





























.*^ 




rRYEBURG 



Webster Centennial, 



GelebratlnA the cominA of 



IDa-nTLiel TX7"eloste32 



to 



FRYBBURG, 



100 years a^o, 



to take the 



Principalship 



of 



Tryebur^ Academy. 



Fryeburg, January 1st, 1902. 



FRYEBURG, MAINE: 
A. F. LEWIS, PUBLISHER, 
1902. 



A RIGM rilND. 

In the old Academy Museum which Amos J. Cook collected 
(luring his Principalship of a third of a century, among other curi- 
os, mementos and memorials, (which went up in smoke), were sup- 
posed to be the autograph letters, written and sent to Mr. Cook 
from Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Until recently it was 
supposed that these letters shared the common fate of the rich col- 
lection of the Museum. A pleasant surprise was recently given 
to the Trustees, when they learned that these valuable letters were 
in the possession of the late F. B. Osgood, Esq.. — the same having 
been found among the papers of his father, Major James Osgood, 
who was a Trustee of the Academy at the time the .building was 
destroyed in May, 1850. It is supposed that Major Osgood res- 
cued these precious documents from their peril at the time of the 
fire. 

These letters, having been written to a Teacher in our venerable 
institution, are interesting links, associating our Academy with the 
Fathers of the Republic — as it is already associated with the great 
statesman who was its early Teacher. This booklet contains cop- 
ies of these interesting letters, and we feel to congratulate the A- 
cademy on the good fortune of their preservation; also on the hope 
that the originals will soon be returned to the Trustees, to be the 
nucleus of another Fryeburg Academy Museum. 

ACADEMY MUSEUM. 

If a.iv ote has old documents, letters, books, curios, or relics of any 
kind, they are coraially invited to send them as a contribution to the 
Fryeburg Academy Museum. It is hoped that we shall soon have a 
building, where all g\ic\i Memorials can l)e safely stored, beyond the 
peril and danger of taffe. 

PRYBBLIRG^EBSTER MEMORIAL, Illustrated; 

Containing Webster's Fryeburg Oration, several letters and poems 
written by Webster while in college and at Fr\-eburg — poems by 
Longfellow (on Lovewell's Fight), Whittier, Henry Bernard Carpen- 
ter, and several other poems specially written for The Memorial. 
Sent, post paid, 50 cents. 

Webster's Fryeburg Oration, post paid, 1-5 cents. 

Proceedings of 

Pryeburg Web^^iter Centennial. 

Jan. 1st, 1902, with addresses, poems, unpublished letters of Wash- 
ington, Adams and Jefferson, written to Preceptor Cook, and other 
matter of local historic interest. Address, 

A. F. LEWIS, Fryeburg, Me. 



PREFACE. 



The friends of Fryeburg Academy, in these d.ays of Cen- 
tennials, not only deemed it proper, but the fitness of things 
made it incumbent upon them to take note of, and duly ob- 
serve, the coming of Daniel Wel)ster to this village, 100 
years ago, to act as Principal of their time-honored Institu- 
tion of Leai'ning. 

Accordingly the following program was arranged and 
successfully carried out : 



Program in Academy Hall, 

at 11 a. m. 
Opening Address, 



1 

2. Music, 

3 Life of Webster, 

4. Oration from Webster, 

Massachusetts and So. Carolina. 

5. Address, 

6. Music, 

7. Quotations from Webster, 

8. a. Webster the Educator, "| 
b. History of Webster's Services at ; 

Fryeburg Academy from ( 

Records of Academy. j 

9. Poem, 
10. Music, 



Charles G. Willard. A. B. 
Fnjelnirg Academy Orchestra. 
Mr. A. F. Lewis. 



Floyd W. Burnell. 

Dr. S. C. Gordon. " 

('horns of Students. 

Class 1902. 

^fr. IV. .4. Hobinson. 

by a Friend of the Academy. 
Fryeburg Academy Orchestra. 



At the close of the exercises in the hall, j'ou are cordially invited to an in- 
formal opening of the new dormitory. 

W^e hope to see as many friends and alnnini of the school present, as 
possible. 



Several letters of Webster with an account of the open- 
ing of Alumni House on Monday evening, Dec. 30th, together 

♦Detained in Portland by professional services. 



with the delightful social hour and lunch that followed the 
• j)rogram on the day of the Celebration, at the !?arae place, 
with a brief history of the dwelling, a list of the Teachers of 
Fryeburg Academy, and some facts of Fryeburg Centennials, 
and Fryeburg's notable days, historic dates, places, and 
events of the town, follow the exercises of the program as 
given in this jirinted account of this first Fryeburg Webster 
Jubilee — to be followed, the coming summer, with a more 
formal and elaborate celebration of the great Stateman's so- 
journ in Fryeburg. 

Fryeburg, Maine, January 1, 1902. 



OPENING ADDRESS 

//// Charlefi Glidden WiUard, A. B. 



Friends, Aluinni iiiid Scholars — 

Before beginning the prepared program, 
1 wish to speak a word or two upon the significance of this 
meeting. 

This date, so near the beginning of a new century, is clus- 
tered about with many events, inventions and ideas, which, 
within the hijise of a few years must modify considerably 
the trend of American life. We now not only hear our 
friends talk hundreds of miles distant but we see their like- 
nesses before us. We even hear of messages being sent, 
through the agency of electricity, for thousands of miles 
without the use of connecting wires. 

We see the race question in the South l)rought before us 
in such light as never l)etore, and the peo})le of the >«orth 
awakening to the realization of its duties in helping to 
emancipate the negro from his })resent degraded state. 

We see Mrs. Stanford bequeathing thirty million dolhirs 
to the university which bears her name, the largest single 
bequest ever made in the cause of education. 

We see Carnegie ot!ering ten million dollars to found a 
national university at Washington to promote research in 
higher fields of study and to give opportunities for the study 
of government and law such as can be found nowhere else 
in our country. 

Yet, amidst all these more far-reaching events which ar<; 



6 



f^huping- the destiny of nmnkind, there is taking place a sini- 
ihir movement in our smaller world of FrNehurg. 

"New occasions teach new duties 
Time makes ancient good uncouth." 

Mindful of the truth that "time makes ancient good un- 
couth"" the friends and alumni of our academy have provi- 
ded us with a new dormitory. They have fixed up our li- 
brary by painting, papering and varnishing it, and also bj' 
adorning its walls with pictures. They have supplied us 
with magazines and have placed many new books upon the 
shelves of our library. Yet, as their president has said, 
their good work is not going to stop here. 

What, then, is the significance of our meeting here to- 
day? 

First, we celebrate in memory of one of the world's great- 
est minds which took up its duties among the people of 
Fryeluirg just one hundred years tigo. 

Secondly, we meet to sliow our appreciation and grati- 
tude to our friends and alumni who have done so much for 
our academy within the last year. 

Lastly, we meet to recall pleasant recollections and the 
glory of our })ast, l)ut not this alone. We meet to bring 
vividlv l)efore us our duties in providing that nourishment 
for our academy whereby its growth and health ma}- con- 
tinue in the future as it has in the past. 




inEarly Manhood. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

of A. F. Lewis, Esq, 

Mr. Cliainnan, Alumni, :uk1 Friends of Fryel)nrg Aeadeniv : 

\\\ the brief liour allotted me this morning" I cannot 
treat, even hardly allude to, many of the masterpieces of 
Webster. His life, as a public man, was an Ei)ic, full of 
the most brilliant and dramntic scenes, covei'ing a period of 
fifty years ; which the art of the engraver, the painter, and 
the scul})tor will transmit to future ages. My address will 
deal, principally, with his early and college life ; his life as 
a Teacher and Citizen at Fryeburg, and tw^o of his master- 
pieces, the Dartnu)uth College Case, and his Seventh of 
March speech— considering him in the role of Statesman, 
Patriot, Diplomatist — as the brilliant Lawyer, the magniti- 
cent Orator, and The Great Man. 

Daniel Webster was the son of Elienezer and Abigail 
(Eastman) Wel)ster, and was l)orn at Salisl)ury, N. H.. flan. 
1§, 1782, at the dawn of the final recognition of American 
Independence. His father enlisted at the age of 18 in the 
French and Indian War, and was in the Revolution with 
Stark and Putnam. Private lessons at home, with incident- 
al labors upon the farm, furnished the groundwork of Web- 
ster's primary studies, and enabled him to enter the acad- 
emy at Exeter, at the age of 14, where he remained nine 
months. In speaking of his school daj^s at Exeter, We1)- 
ster said that "he made tolerable progress in all branches, 
but there was one thing he could not do. He could not 
make a declamation — he could not s})eak before the school. 



10 



The kind and excellent Buckniinster especially sought to 
persuade nie to i)erfonn the exercise of declamation, like 
othej- hoys, l)ut I could not do it. Many a })iecedid I com- 
mit to I'neniory, and lehearse in my own room, over aiid 
over again ; hut when the chiy came, and my name was 
called, and I saw all eyes turned upon my seat, 1 could not 
raise myself from it. Sometimes the masters frowned, 
sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster :dways pressed 
and entreated with the most winning kindness, that I would 
ventui'e onl v once : l)ut I could not connnand sutticient resolu- 
tion ; and when the occasion was o^er, I went home and 
we})t tears of l)itter mortification" '*llere, then'' says an 
anonymous biographer of Wel)ster, "is a striking foct ; the 
man, who, during his first nine months at an academy, 
though a good reader, and naturally self-i)ossessed, could 
not deliver a speech ; and yet, afterwards, he ])ecame the 
greatest orator of his time." Bashful hoys, take courage I 
After returning home from Exeter, he studied a few weeks 
with Rev. Mr. Wood of Boscawen, and heing Htted, he 
entered Dartmouth at the age of 15. 

Of Ehenezer's five sons, Ehenezer, l)a\id and.]()se[)h had 
grown to manhood, were settled in life, and long past the 
school age. To educate the two remaining, Ezekiel and 
Daniel, was beyond his means. I)Ut if his longing to see, 
at least, one son rise above the humble calling of a farmer 
was to be gratified, it must be one of these, and to choose 
which, cost the father a bitter struggle. He met it with the 
unfaltering courage which marked the man, made his de- 
cision, and one day in 1795 announced his determination. 
"On a hot day in July," said \Vel)ster, describing the scene, 
many years later, "it nuist have been in one of the last years 
of Washington's administration, 1 was making hay with my 
father, just where I now see a remaining elm tree. Al)out 
the middle of the forenoon the Hon. Abiel Foster, M. 0., 
who lived in Canterlmrv, six miles ofl', called at the house 



n 



and viime into the tield to see my father. When he was 
i^one my father called me to him, and we sat down beneath 
the elm on a hay-cock. He said : "My son that is a worthy 
man ; he is a member of Congress ; he goes to Philadelphia 
and gets six dollars a day, while I toil here. It is because 
he had an education whicli I never had. If 1 had had his 
education I should haAe been in Philadel})hia in his place. 
I came near as it was. But I missed it, and now I must 
work here.'' When my father fully made known his pur- 
pose I could not speak. How could he, I thought, with so 
large a family, and in such narrow circumstances, think of 
incurring so great an expense forme? A warm glow ran 
all over me, and I laid my head upon my father's shoulder 
and wei)t, and I weep at its recollection. The next moment 
I felt as prcnid as a Roman consul to whom a triumph had 
been decreed."' Such was the beginning of his college ca- 
reer; a beginning, auspicious indeed, to say the least, and 
the sensitive boy already seemed to foreshadow the great 
and mighty statesman.' 

The name of Daniel Webstei- is to the average person 
suggestive of statesmanship, oratory and eloquence. No 
history of the United States would be complete which did 
not pay due homage to Webster's genius as dis])layed in 
j)u))lic life. But in extolling his many achievements of 
later life, a most important period of his career has been 
sadly neglected by all writers, that of his college life. It 
was a period in which first appeared those (|ualities and 
capabilities in Webster which foretold for him the great 
future which he so well filled, a period in which his desires 
and ambitions were sha})ing themselves, a period which 
more than any other directly laid the foundation for Web- 
ster's future successes. And yet we have heard very little 
of "Webster as a college man," this part of his career being 
even more lightly touched upon by historical and biograph- 
ical writers than even the earlier years of his life or those 



12 



immediately following his graduation. Thanks to careful 
research during the past few years, however, and the dis- 
covery of heir-looms in the nature of diaries kept by Web- 
ster, and by his classmates who paid tribute to Wel)ster. 
much has been gleaned which shows \A'ebsterashe was at 
college. The recent centennial of his graduation at Dart- 
mouth has brought out much of his college life, and will re- 
sult in the preservation to the college, and to the country 
much that was in danger of being lost. ^Ve have the testi- 
mony of a classmate that Webster spent but a small part of 
his time in the |)rejiaration of his text-book lessons, which, 
in ftict, he rarely learned as a matter of detail. He, lather, 
read his books very carefully, took a comprehensive view 
of the lessons assigned and made them a basis of further 
reading and research in line with the text. In fact, he 
spent so little time witii his text books that his enemies 
charsred him with laziness in coUejze, but in^'ariablv his 
class-room efforts showed a knowledge of the subject at 
hand more comjirehensive than that possessed by any other 
student, and the professors of his i]u\ lltnis-eives are au- 
thority that Webster not infrequently understood his work 
better than they did. "Webster did not like to be con- 
fined to a narrow view," says a classmate. **He would 
study the text-books but a short time, would seem to com- 
prehend them in a largei- view than the other students, and 
would then employ hours inclose thought, either in his 
room, or in his strolls afield. And Webster ^^as blessed 
with a wonderful memory. I have known him to read 20 
pages of poetry through twice, and then repeat the 20 pages 
almost verbatim. The very fact of his learning thus easily, 
and of his method of strolling the field for contemplation 
and absorption of his subject, gave the impression at first 
that Webster was slothful, but as he gradually came to low- 
er head and shoulders above other students in an under- 
standing of his subject, in command of language and in 



13 



oratorical diunity, we realized that in him was the niould- 
iiiii' of a master mind." It was this same trait in Webster 
that displayed a most amusing result just before entering 
college. The teacher of a school which Daniel attended, 
one Friday afternoon showed the scholars a new jack-knife, 
which, she said, would be given to the pupil, who, on the 
next Monday niorning could re})eat the largest numl)er of 
scriptural verses from the psalms. Webster repeated ])nges 
wliere the others repeated verses, and the jack-knife l)ecame 
his property. Exj)lanatory of this accomplishment, Web- 
ster wrote a friend : "Whatever I read J make my own. 
At the close of a iialf-hour's reading I close my book and 
think it all over. If anything seems of j)articular interest, 
in sentiment or language, I endeavor to recall it and lay it 
up in memory : then, when any debate comes u]), touching 
that sul)ject. I can talk ejisily so fai' as my knowledge ex- 
tends, and, when that point is reached, I am always careful 
to sto})." 

Webster s})ent the first -two years of his college life in the 
house now known as the McMurphy house, and he occu})ied 
a smrdl room in the upper story of the small cottage. Here, 
in a poorly lighted, and a poorly heated room, he composed 
his compositions, or i)ored over his l)ooks. It is said, that 
sometimes on cold winter evenings, ;i small lamp placed 
l)eneath his chair was the only artiticial means for bodily 
warmth, yet he was so absorl)ed in his l)ooks that he did 
not notice any discomfort. This house stands in the JVortli 
West part of the town, at the corner of what is known as 
Webster Avenue, a l)eautiful street recently laid out, yet 
even now dotted with elegant private lesidences. It was 
given the name of Webster Avenue, because here, so says 
tradition, was Webster's favorite strolling place, along the 
tields overlooking the Connecticut, and commanding a grand 
view of the White Mountains to the North, and a sweep 
down the Connecticut valley to the south. Another favor- 



14 



ite retreat, hard by, was what is now known as the Vale of 
Tempe, in more recent years made famous as the site of 
the Almy murder. It was through the Vale of Tempe, and 
off into the then deep forests that Webster strolled one day, 
the experience of which he afterwards related in a letter to 
a friend. Webster's parents had learned that former friends 
of theirs were living a few npi to the north, and at their 
request, he set out to look uiem up. Trudging" through 
the woods, climbing over l)r(>\en trees, and penetrating 
tangled bushes, he came, after great weariness, to the much 
sought-for house, and, as he relates it, "found the people 
poor as Job's cat." "They were reduced to the last ex- 
tremes of poverty, and their house contained one small a- 
partment, with a rude [)artition tomake two rooms. I saw 
how they were situated, but could not retreat. They con- 
fessed that they had not even a cow or potatoes. The only 
thino; they had to eat beino- a bundle of o'reen ^rass and a 
little hog's lard. In my tired condition, I actually partook 
of green grass fried in hog's laid for 1>oth breakfiist and 
supper, and relished it too." 

As early as sophomore year, Webster displayed great 
ability as a literary writer, and at once sj)rang into promi- 
nence. He com})osed his own declamations : he wrote 
poetry with fluency, and delivered an occasional oration. 
He was accustomed to stroll along the trout brooks or go 
to the woods to hunt game, and with rod or gun in hand, 
muse over his theme. Ashe styled it, he "composed at 
leisure and wrote in haste," in many instances })utting none 
of his important composition on paper until the very day it 
was to be delivered. It is a matter of record that in one 
instance, he sat down to his table just after dinner, to write 
a theme which he was to deliver at 2. 30 that very afternoon. 
When the theme was about half written, there came a gust 
of wind that blew Webster's manuscript over the meeting- 
house, whereupon Webster strolled leisurely off to the class- 



15 



room and delivered his theme as though nothing had lia}){)en- 
ed ; it was one of the best efforts of the day. 

In college, Webster tirst l)ecanie prominent as a writer 
through the medium of the Dartmouth Gazette, established 
by a Moses Davis in 17*.li), and printed on one of the first 
printing presses used in this country. The object of the 
paper was, "to give the jieople literature." It was an- 
nounced, that "to give the j^-^wir a start, 25 cents is requii'ed 
on receipt of the first nuniber,^1nd aO cents, if offered, will 
not be refused.'" Soon afte'4\its establishment, there ap- 
l)eared in its columns, the following communication : "Mr. 
Davis : Having seen your pro])osals for ])rinting a news- 
papei , under the respectable title of the Dartmouth Gazette, 
I have |)resumed to come forward, and cast in my mite to 
increase, if not to enrich your weekly re{)ast. Should you 
think the outpourings of my puerile })en worthy a place in 
your new vehicle of knowledge, you may depend on a num- 
ber weekh'. As I am unable to treat any subject with that 
knowledge and accuracy it deserves, you will i)ermit me, 
as a compensation for want of abilities, to range the whole 
field of nature, in order to collect those productions which 
fortune may tlirow in my way. Icarus." In due season, 
the writings of "Icarus" became the most read, and most 
able in the paper. They were of a varied nature, being 
communications, sometimes to the selectmen of the town, 
urging im[)roved sanitary conditions, and better administra- 
tion of duties, essays on "Hope," "Charity," i)oems on 
"Spring,"' and other subjects. 

Webster's first public oration at Dartmouth (Jollege was 
not his Fourth of July oration, as is generally supposed, 
but rather an oration delivered on the death of a classmate, 
one Ephraim Simonds, whose last resting place is marked 
by a slab in the village cemetery. Simonds, Sumner and 
Cook, three students of Webster's time, are sleeping their 
last sleep in what, marked by three slabs, is known as stu- 



16 



dents' row in the village cemeteiy. Simonds was buried 
under the aus})ices of the United Fraternity, a literary so- 
ciety of Webster's time, and We])ster was invited to de- 
liver a pul)lic eulogy on the deceased, to wiiom he paid a 
most glowing tribute. This was delivered when lb years 
of age. The same year, and while a junior in college, he 
delivered his famous Fourth of July Oration, having been 
unanimously invited by the citizens of tlie town. Another 
oration was delivered l)efore the society at the time of 
Webster's graduation, but the records of the society have 
been mutilated, and somebody has ap})ro})riated the man- 
uscript copy of the address. It is stated by classmates, as 
shown by diaries and letteis that are still pieserved, that 
whenever any ditficult task was necessary, it was always 
laid on Webster. 

As early as his first year in college, Webster showed that 
instinctive love for the I'nion and Constitution which after- 
ward made him famous, ^^'riting to a friend, who feared 
for the safety of the country, because of foreign encroach- 
ments, he said : "'Intenudly secure, we have nothing to 
fear. Let ?Airoi)e pour her end)attled millions around u> : 
let her thronged cohorts cover onr shores from the St. 
Lawrence to the St. Mary's, yet united Columbia shall 
stand unmoved. The name of her deceased Washington 
shall still guard the li))erties of his country, nnd direct the 
sword of freedom in the da}' of batthv Henven grant that 
the bonds of our federal union may be strengthened, that 
Gallic emissaries and Gallic princi})les may be spurned 
from our land, that traitors may be abashed, and that the 
stars and stripes of a united Colund)ia may wave trium- 
phant." Likewise at an early time in his college course he 
formed conclusive ideas on the subject of war, as shown by 
another letter written to a friend : '*Foi- what was man 
created, but to cultivate the arts of })eace and friendsliip, to 
improve his own mind by study and retlt'ction. to serve his 



17 



(i()(l with Jill the powers of his soul, and finally, when the 
(lays of his years are completed, to bid adieu to earthly ob- 
jects with a smile, to close his eyes on the pillow of relig- 
ious hope, and sink to repose on the bosom of his Maker. 
Why. then, is the object of our existence unattained ? 
Why does war, relentless war, draw the sword to spill the 
blood of mankind ? War under certain circumstances is 
proper, is just. When men assume to burst those chains 
which have bound them in slavery , to assist and maintain 
those princi])l('s which they justly claim as natural rights, 
their ol)ject is noble, and we wish them success. But on 
the contrary, when individuals, prompted by desire of re- 
venge, or from motives of ambition or })ersonal aggrandize- 
ment, lead forth their bloody hosts to slaughter, and wan- 
tonly sport in the destruction of their species, our bosoms 
glow with indignation, and we voluntarily but resolutely 
have recourse to those means foi our preservation, which 
tyrants employ for our destruction." 

The work and eloquence of Webster are supposed to have 
done much toward raising the debt, and toward putting 
Dartmouth in a position to enjoy a heallliful growth. 

Webster's diaries tell many interesting experiences, none 
more so than an experience which he met with on his re- 
turn to college at the close of a winter's recess. A neigh- 
bor who was going to Lebanon from Franklin by team, con- 
sented to take Daniel with him, and Daniel's mother packed 
his little trunk preparatory for an early start. It was a bit- 
ter cold morning, but Daniel was on the road long before 
breakfast, seated in an old-fashioned, scpiare-boxed, pung 
sleigh, with several barrels of cider. Daniel was dressed 
in new clothes, new mittens and new stockings, spun, woven 
and dyed by his mother. Coming to a stream soon after 
breakfast, they found that a freshet had washed the bridge 
away. The driver remarked : "Daniel, you've got good 
boots on, suppose you take the reins and drive, and me 



18 



walk over the Inidge/' "I drove cautiously," writes Web- 
ster, "and all seemed favorable for a safe passage, when 
the pung sank, and I found myself up to my armpits in 
water. The horse plunged and reached the o])posite baid<. 
and instantly I was a solid cake of ice. I jumped out of 
the sleigh, and, grabbing the seat rod, bade my com})anion 
to drive as fast as he could, and the motion of the sleigh 
kept me from freezing. At the. first houee, I stopp-ed and 
asked lo l)e })ut to bed, while the hostess dried my clothes. 
When I had recovered from my stupor, it Mas very aj)- 
parent that the contents of mot! er"s d\v pot was on my 
liody instead of on my clothes." 

It would be singular, if the thoughtful and intelligent 
citizens of this little borough, and the friends of this vener- 
able institution did not contemplate with deep intei est Web- 
ster's sojourn here, as teacl.er of this academy ; and the 
finding of his remarkable Fourth of July oration, delivered 
here 100 years ago,, after it had slept in (;blivion^O years. 
In a letter I received from Whittier a few years before he 
died, he said : "I am heartily glad at the discovery of the 
oration of the great orator and statesman. It is a very 
pleasant thing for your l)eautiful village which cherishes tiie 
memory of its illustrious resident and teacher as one of its 
most valuable treasures." It is a very interesting fact that 
the earliest eilbrts of our nu)st distinguished poet, and our 
most illustrious orator and statesman, are associated with 
Fryeburg. Longfellow's first poem, written at the age of 
13, was upon Love well's Fight — Webster's first oration, 
after leaving college, was pronounced here 100 years ago. 
This oration, for profound thought and statesmanlike wis- 
dom, is certainly a remarkable production, and I believe 
that the world's greatest orators, at Webster's age when 
here, may safely be challenged to [)roduce an^'thing which 
will bear comparison with this early effort in Fryeburg. In- 
deed, Webster himself, who had a very poor opinion, in 



19 



after life, of his etforts, thought enough of his oration here 
to make it the basis of another one at Concord, N. H., sev- 
eral yea.is later : and he used the peroration of the Fryeburg 
address in the last speech he made in the Senate of the 
United States 48 years afterwards. It seems to have been 
a favorite closing — tirst used in Fryeburg, afterwards in 
Concord, — and finally the last words he spoke in the Sen- 
ate, July 17, 1850. 

While his brother Ezekiel was living, it is most impos- 
sil)le to se})arate the two brothers in our minds. Ezekiel 
was two years older than Daniel, but he did not graduate 
till three years after Daniel. Ezekiel, like Daniel, was a 
lawyer, and many persons who had opportunities to judge, 
thought him the equal of his more celebrated brother in in- 
tellectual endowments. In his younger years he was in- 
clined to be timid, while Daniel was as bold as a lion, and 
their father used to say that Ezekiel could not tell half he 
knew, but Daniel could tell more than he knew. In spite 
of his natural timidity, however, his talents soon won for 
him an exalted standing as a jurist, and at the time of his 
death he was regarded as one of the ablest lawyers of New^ 
Hampshire. He was elected to the Legislature 12 times, 
and at the election in March, /29, the month before he died, 
he was a candidate for Congress. He was a man of im- 
posin.tj presence, having a magnificent foim crowned with a 
a princely head. His maimers were kind and courteous, 
his heart warm and affectionate, and his countenance of rare 
and striking beauty. "My brother Ezekiel" said Daniel 
Webster in 1846, "appeared to me, and so does he now 
seem to me, the very finest human form that I ever laid eyes 
on." Daniel Webster had for his brother Ezekiel not only 
the most devoted affection, but the most exalted respect. 
In his early years he looked as anxiously for Ezekiel's ap- 
proval of his acts as Coriolanus did for that of his mother. 
It was Damon and Pythias over again. His confidence in 



20 



his elder brothers judgment was unbounded : his reliance 
upon his counsel and wisdom was without limit. When, 
nine months after Ezekiel's death, he had l)roui>htthe whole 
nation to pay homage at his feet for the splendor of his tri- 
umph ov^er the Southern champion, Robert Y. Hayne, he 
had one keen regret : "How I wish."' he sorrowfully ex- 
claimed, "that my poor brother had lived till after this 
speech, for I know that he would have been gratified by it." 
In their younger days the two brothers shared the meagre 
contents of a common purse until they had fully established 
themselves in their profession. On one occasion while 
Daniel was teaching here, and, at the same time, eking out 
his income l)v acting as de])uty register of deeds, he re- 
turned home by way of Hanover, where Ezekiel was at 
college. The first thing Daniel did was to find out whether 
his brother was in need of money : and, although his salary 
as a teacher was scarcely more than the wages of a day la- 
borer, being at the rate of only $o5() a year, yet he was 
ready to help Ezekiel if he was in need. The result of this 
visit of Daniel's to Ezekiel may l)e told in his own words: 
"We walked and talked during a long evening : and, finally 
seated upon an old log, not far from the college, 1 gave to 
Ezekiel $100, the first earnings of my life, the result of my 
labors in teaching and in recording deeds, after j)aying my 
own debts, — leaving to myself but three dollars to get home 
with. Having enjoyed this sincere and high [)leasure, I 
hied me back again to my school and my (•()})ying of deeds." 
Ezekiel's death was very sudden and utterly without pre- 
monition. AVhile addressing a juiy in the court room at 
Concord, he suddenly fell to the floor a corpse. He was 
apparently in perfect health, and had been speaking about 
half an hour, showing no diminution of his accustomed phys- 
ical strength or intellectual j)ower. He had closed one 
l)ranchofhis argument, uttering the concluding sentence 
and the final word distinctlv and with natural cadence, his 



21 



tbnn erect, his eye clear iind bright, when the hand of death 
suddenly arrested his earthly course. Physicians were im- 
mediately summoned, but no human aid was ot' any avail. 
It was thouii'ht that life was extinct before he reai-hed the 
Hoor in his fall. Judge Eastman, the late President of our 
board of Trustees, was in the court room at the time, and I 
have often heard him relate the circumstances of the solemn 
and impressive scene. Mr. Webster was tall and com- 
manding, and he said it seemed like the falling of a great 
ti'ee in a forest. 

To look at Webster, in that winter, when he was 19 years 
old, after he had begun to study for his })rofession — to see 
him drop his law l)ooks, mount his horse, and })lunge 
through the deep >nows and drifts, from Salisbury to Frye- 
burg — nearly a hundred miles — that he might, by teaching 
school, and copying deeds out of school hours, earn a little 
money to lielp his brother through college — is certainly to 
look upon a pleasixnt picture. All the stories and legends 
of Webster's life in Fryeburg are creditable to him as a man 
and a teacher. 1 have talked with (piite a number of his 
pupils, and their uniform testimony is, that he was an able 
and inspiring teacher. All testify that he had dignity, an 
even temper and good discipline, and that he commanded 
the love and respect of his ])ui)ils. While here he made 
speeches, delivered orations, dallied with the muses, wrote 
poetry — wrote letters, both in ver,-e and i)rose, neither of 
which were pi-osij. 1 have one of his lettei's written in 
rhyme, sent me by Judge Baylies* of Iowa. This is given 

*Juclge Baylies was a nephew of Judge Dana, and was a student liere at the Acad- 
emy in the twenties. The letter was written to a college chum of Webster, after- 
wards General Eleazer Wheelock Eipley, a brother of General James Kipley of this 
town, and a distinguished General in the war of 1812— also a member of congress 
from Louisiana. His only son. Harry, a youth of eighteen, who, (with his only sister. 
Elizabeth Lee. was educated at this Academy,) fought as a Lieutenant, under Col- 
onel Fanning, in the cause of Texan independence, and was one of 560 men who 
were inhumanly shot by order of Santa Anna, the Mexican general, in utter disre- 
gard of the terms of capitulation. The poor fellow had his thigh broken soon after 
the Indians first took to the grass. Mrs. Cash at his request helped him into his 



22 

as a specimen of his impromptu verse : 

Salisbury, Feb. 13th, 1801. 

Come, Ripley, throw your volumes by, 
You love to chat, and so do I; 
Now let us put our heads together 
And talk of women, war and weather, — 
All hackneyed subjects, it is true, 
But just reverse them and they're new. 
So when our topics are run out. 
We've naught to do, but turn about. 
Then gravely make a new beginning, 
And talk of weather, war and women. 

What signify your dull reports, 
Your Rules of Bar and Rules of Courts? 
Are they not tedious to the brain, 
Like worn-out stories told again.' 
Then quit them all, and for a time 
We'll do ut quondam, talk in rhyme. 

****** 

Good Ripley, write me by next mail, 
E'en if you've nothing to detail. 
I know you're kind, and so you will 
Scratch one line to your friend 

Daniel. 

This is not given as a sample of Webster's poetry. The 
poem written on the death of his little son Charlie, when 
Webster was 43, is beautiful. There is hardly a finer spec- 
imen of parental embalming in our language. | 

He entered into the social and literary life of Fryeburg — 

cart and fixed a prop for him to lean against, and a rest for liis rifle. While in that 
situation he was seen to bring down four Mexicans before he received another 
wound, which broke liis right arm. He immediately exclaimed to Mrs. Cash, "You 
may take me down now, mother; I have done my share; they have paid two for one 
on account of both balls in me." 

tSee Fryeburg Webster Memorial, page 25. 



23 



at the same time taking a deep interest in [)ub]ic aftairs. 
His numerous letters written while here, afford a very good 
picture of society in Fryeburg a hundred years ago.* 
While here he read the books in the small "Social Library" 
with an absorbing interest and a retentive memory — and he 
speaks of finding books here, that he could not find in the 
libraries at Hanover. 

He was invit^^d hereto the Lovevvell's Fight Centennial, 
in 1825 — also to the Semi-Centennial of the Academy in 
1842. He could not be present, but wrote beautiful letters 
to the committees, expressing his deep regrets, and wishing 
the most abundant prosperity to the Academy and the town. 
He ever took a deep interest in the Academy and in Frye- 
burg, the scene of his earliest labors; and, being in Conway 
as late as 8e})tember, '51, several of the Trustees went up 
to see him, and, being told that the Trustees were strug- 
gling to rebuild the Academy, though with diminished re- 
sources, he proposed, ifhis life was spared, and his offi- 
cial duties would allow him, he would be present at the 
Academy's dedication, and give the opening address. He 
died, however, about nine months before the completion of 
the present Academy. He made diligent inquiries for citi- 
zens of the town, whom he had known when here, among 
others, of Lieutenant James Walker,! to whom he sold the 
horse that had borne him across the country. "I suppose 
Mr. Walker is not living now," said Webster. On being 
told that he was, Webster immediately said : "Give my 
best respects to Mr. Walker." 

When W^ebster was here in 'ol he was invited to tea at 
Dr. Griswold's, and during the repast he looked up with 
an air of some surprise and remarked: "Your Fryeburg 

♦Webster liad a very liigli opinion of Judge Dana and his wife. In one of his let- 
ters from Fryeburg, he says: "Mr. Dana is the only neighbor I can call on with 
great pleasure and little ceremony. Thave exalted ideas of his lady; lean say 
with Shakespeare, that she is one who 'paragons description and wild fame.'" 

tThe ance.stor of Miss Walker, our teacher in elocution. 



24 



scenery is striking, grand and l)eautifu]; when I was here 
acting as pedagogue, I sii])pose I was ambitious, and didWt 
notice ifV To appreciate the pith and point of this remark, 
it is only necessary to say that this was just after his reply 
to Hayne, and when Wehster was at the very zenith of his 
fame. 

An old lady who was one of his pu})ils here, used to tell 
me : "He was all eyes." They thought nothing in the 
school-room escaped those lustrous orl)s. That may ac- 
count for the good order and discipline which characterized 
his school. 

Webster was a voluminous letter writer, his epistles 
sparkle with the great thoughts of his own mind, with the 
ancient Greek and Latin poets, the great modern })oets, and 
the best literature of all time. They are off-hand, senten- 
tious, aboundino; in humour, and "ive a oood idea of his 
fulness and readiness, and of his unstudied style of literary 
composition.* 

Webster defended the Constitution, and he stood for the 
integrity of the Union. He once said that "There was not 
an article, a section, a clause, a phrase, a word, a syllable, or 
even a comma of the C'onstitution, which he had not studied 
and pondered in eveiy relation and in eveiy construction of 
which it was susceptible." Thus he was known as its great 
"Expounder and Defendei." He built the most powerful 
aro-uraents for both, ever uttered. He did this strictlv in 
the realms of statesmanship, and in so doing he laid the 
basis for the action of those who came after him. His was 
not alone a coldly logical argument, though here it was un- 
surpassed and im})regnable. There was the fire of genius 
in it l)eyond such achievement. There was the electric force 
of inspiration. For Webster's soid as a patriot was (juic-k- 



*I am glad to know that a new edition of more than 1000 mipublislied letters, of 
his correspondence, isabrnt to be issued, written to tlie most distinfiiiislicd jieojile 
in tliis and otlier lands. 



25 



enecl by his imagination a,s a })oet. No American has ever 
put so much into his speeches that appealed to the popular 
heart — certainly no one had before Abraham Lincoln. The 
niaiiiiiticent passage in Webster's immortal speech of 1830, 
which ended in the "Liberty and Union, now and forever, 
one and inseparable," rang through the land, reaching into 
the depths of the popular heart, and never ceased to rever- 
l)erate there. Webster, at his time, was almost our only 
literary statesman. Here his genius rivalled that of Burke. 
We had other men who aroused the public mind for the 
time being. Henry Clay was notably eminent among them, 
and he created a more entliusiastic following than Webster 
ever had ; but his speeches perished from the })ublic mind 
after their day was over. Webster's are a part of our liter- 
ature. They took their place in it at once, as classics, and 
they will so continue while the language lasts. In their 
argument alone they were of the highest value, but it was 
the genius of their author in expression, that did the most 
to secure their innnortality in the minds of men. 

The Dartmouth College Case is one of Webster's greatest 
arguments. A brief Iiistory of the case would not be uninter- 
esting, but we have not time for that. It had gone through 
the New Hampshire courts and decided adversely to the col- 
lege, and vvas then appeale.l to the Supreme Court at Wash- 
ington. Webster for five hours pleaded the interests of the 
college before the court. The most brilliant legal lights of 
the day were there. Some of the lawyers, having learned that 
in the lower courts Webster had moved his audience to tears, 
were at first alarmed lest his argument 1)efore the higher court 
should betray some lack of taste. They need not have been, 
for never was an a[)pe!il more strictly based on reason, or 
kept more free from emotional elements. When, howevei', 
the case had ))een presented, then as naturally and spontane- 
ously as a gush from an overflowing well of recollection and 
long pent-up feelings, came that eloquent, impassioned })er- 



'2f\ 



oration which overcame even the chief justice, and cannot 
be disregarded in any consideration of Daniel Webster's de- 
fence of his alma mater. Back of it lay the memory of that 
morning when his father had called him under the shadow 
of the great elm, and after pointing out to him his own life 
of toil, and the ditFerence an education would have made in 
it, had then told him of his determination to give him, his 
youngest son, that which he himself had missed. Back of 
it lay the early struggles and hardships of his life, its joys 
and sorrows, and the love that never felt denial for his sake, 
or weighed thp cost of his advancement. Back of it lay the 
sentiments and associations of his college days, and ofthose 
of his brother, and unconsciously into the thoughts of each 
of his hearers, in the i)lace of Dartn)outh came the name of 
some more familiar college, and the interests of one became 
the interests of all. 

The etfect was overwhelming. The argument ended, Mr. 
Webster stood for some moments silent ])efore the court, 
while every eye was tixed intently upon him. At len,o;th, 
addressing the chief justice, he proceeded thus : "This, 
sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that huml)le 
institution, it is the case of every college in the land. It is- 
in some sense the case of every man among us \\ho has 
property of which he may be stripped, for the question is 
simply this; shall our state Legislature be allowed to take 
that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, 
and apply it to such ends and purposes as they, in discrim- 
ination, shall see tit. ^>ir, you may destroy this little institu- 
tion ; it is weak ; it is in your hands. I know it is one of 
the lesser lights in the literary horizf)n of our country. You 
may put it out ; but if you do so, you must carry through 
your work ! You must extinguish one after another, all 
those greater lights of science, which, for more than a cen- 
tury, have thrown their radiance over our land. It is, ^ir, 
as I have said, a small college. And yet there arc those who 



27 



love it." Here hi^s feelings overpowered him, his lips quiv- 
ered, his eyes tilled with tears, his voice choked, and in brok- 
en words of tenderness, he spoke of his attachment to the 
college. The whole seemed to l)e mingled throughout with 
recollections of mother, father, brother, and all the priva- 
tions through which he had made his way in life. The 
court room during these two or three minutes presented an 
extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall, with his 
tall and quaint figure l)ent over as if to catch the slightest 
whisper, the dee[) furi'ows of his cheek ex[)anded with emo- 
tion, and his eyes suffused with tears : Mr. Justice Wash- 
ington, at his side, with his small and emaciated frame and 
countenance more like marble than a face of flesh and blood 
— leaning over with an eager, trou])led look ; and the re- 
mainder of the court at the two extremities, ))ressing, as it 
were, to a single point, while the audience ])elow were wrap- 
l)ing themselves round in closer folds l)eneatli the bench to 
catch each look and every movement of the speaker's face. 
Mr. Webster now recovered his composure, and, fixing his 
keen e^'e on the chief justice, said in that deep tone with 
which he sometimes thrilled the heart of an audience : Sir, 
I know not how others may feel, (glancing at the opponents 
of the college ))efore him), but for myself, when I see my 
alma mater surrounded like Ctesar in the Senate house by 
those who are reiterating stab after stab, I would not for 
this right hand have her turn to me and say, et hi, quoque 
mi fill! And thou, too, my son ! 

In death-like stillness Mr. Webster sat down. The plea 
was ended, but the impression of it remained, and no pro- 
ceedings afterward were al)le to render doubtful the final 
decision for the college. 

Near the close of the term of congress which ended Sep- 
tember 30, 1850, Mr. Webster, then Secretary of State, gave 
a dinner to the Dartmouth Alumni in Washington, on the 
occasion of the appointment of his nephew. Professor Chas. 



B. Haddock, of the college, ii.s charge d'affaires in Portugal. 
In the course of the dinner a discussion arose as to the great- 
est effort of ]Mr. Webster's life. One named the Girard 
will argument : when in res})onse to a question ])y the host, 
several speakers mentioned as many different speeches as 
entitled to primacy. At length, his own opinion having 
been asked, Mr. Webster rose, moved back his chair, and 
talked foi- an hour. What he said of Dartmouth and the 
Dartmouth College case is well worth repeating, as afford- 
ing in itself sufficient justification for the close association 
between the o-reat orator and the colleae of his love — aside 
from the far-reaching importance of the legal decision which 
followed his great argument in the case named. "That is 
a man's o'reatest effort," said Webster, "which l)rinos to him 
the most opportunities for other eff'orts, and does the most 
toward securing for him a permanent support for himself 
and family. Xo man ever arrived at eminence in his pro- 
fession who cannot look back upon some particuh.ir effort 
which laid the foundation for most of his success in life. 
Hence every young man should do his utmo.st in every case, 
however unimi)ortant it may seem to him, realizing that from 
some source, and oftentimes when least expected, he may 
gain a foothold upon piil»lic respect, which, if persistently 
adhered to, may eventually establish his fame and fortune." 
After serving two years as congressman froin New 
Hampshire, he removed to Boston with the intention of de- 
voting the remainder of his life to a profession which he 
loved, and he thought his affection for it ha(i incieased with 
his years. He then described the eminent legal men who 
occupied all the ground of Boston. He wanted an o])j)or- 
tunity, and for a while despaired of obtaining it. Dart- 
mouth College, his alma mater, however, furnished it ; and 
ever after he felt that his professional sign was, "Daniel 
Webster and the Dartmouth College Case." That soon gave 
him a practice equal to that of an}- of that illustrious group of 



29 



iittorneys who had 8o \oug and so meritoriously held sway 
in Boston. He might have obtained a position otherwise ; 
but at best it would have rec|uired a longer time. But for 
that case he might never have been in the house or senate, 
where he could have replied to Hayne of South Carolina, 
or made those other great efforts of his life. He went on 
subordinating all other causes of his success to the Dart- 
mouth College Case. 1 have done for Dartmouth College 
all that I can. Yet I feel indebted to her — indebted formy 
early education, indebted for her early confidence, indebted 
for an opportunity to show to men, whose su})port I was to 
need for myself and family, tliat I was equal to the defence 
of vested rights against state, courts, and sovereigns. 

He was a Peace Maker — that is high praise from the High- 
est source — it is high [)raise among rational, right-thinking 
men. I doubt if he would be regarded as a "strenuous" 
statesman today. He believed in settling national troubles 
by diplomacy and statesmanship— and not by war. 

He and Lord Ashburton came together and fixed up the 
Eastern Boundary (juestion without l)l(iodshed. They met 
as statesmen and diplomatists, without noise or bluster, and 
the difficulty, which had been a source of irritation, danger 
and innninent war between us and the mother country for 
half a century, was adjusted peacefully and satisfactorily to 
the country. Thus l)y his gi'eat wisdom he thwarted a third 
war with England. Some of our statesmen, on whose shoul- 
ders "the honor of the country" sits heavily, think a great 
army and a great navy are the means to settle national troub- 
les — not so, thought Daniel Webster. Again, he was Sec- 
retary of State when the Lopez Expedition, in "51, sallied 
forth in their raid upon Cuba. A band of tillibusters, ma- 
rauders and bandits gathered from the shnns of our great 
cities, (who might be called, with no great abuse of lan- 
guage, robbers and pirates ) , made their mad descent upon 
that beautiful island, to give her people a government of 



30 



liberators; and jjcfriots/ The result was, the little band of 
raiders was seized about as soon as they reached the island — 
Lopez was garroted, and fifty of his men were lined up and 
shot — among them was Colonel Critenden, one of our West 
Point soldiers, who was second in command. The rest were 
sent off to Spain, to pass the remainder of their lives in the 
Spanish mines. Mr. Webster didn't bluster and threaten 
and send ships of war to the coast of Spain to lay waste her 
cities. He admitted these men had made an unlawful attack 
uj)on one of Spain's possessions — appealed to the magna- 
nimity and clemency of the S})anish Court, and in a few 
weeks had the satisfaction of seeing 162 American citizens 
returned to their homes and families.* 

''Peace hath her victories 
No less renowned than war." 

*'Mr. Webster was ambitious," it is said, "and wanted to 
be President." Well, is it not an honorable ambition in one 
who is well qualified, to govern and to guide a great i)eople 
in the paths of peace, progress and development. Think of 
the men, the polifician,s have made, and have fiied to make 
Presidents of the United States, Oh I the pity of it. 

In 1852, men like Webster, commanding only a score or 
more of votes in the convention, and a mere military chief- 
tain like Scott nominated ! Webster said it was "a nomi- 
nation not tit to be made." May I tres})ass ujjon your time 
to read a little speech of Webster's on the evening of Scott's 
nomination. I said, a tittle speech— yes, a little s})eech, and 
yet a r/reat one. Choate had made a great effort for Web- 
ster's nomination. The Whigs of Washington formed a 
procession, and, followed by a dense crowd, marched to 



♦'Oil a recent tour to Cuba, I visited the Cistln Atares, in Havau.i. and, on ihe lawn 
oelore the castle, the Cubans, since the Spaniards left the island, Iwtve enclosed a lit- 
tle plat, with a granite wall, and there, on the green sward, have written an eiiitaiili 
on the spot where those fifty Americans were shot. Theletieis are written with 
huge cannon balls— '-Keeuerdo a los Martires"" — A Memoiial to lie Maityis. Tl.at 
word wta>-<i/r, like the word liberty, [>^n nnich-abused word, and often jjut to very 
strange uses. 



31 



Webster's house on Louisiana Avenue. At calls for Web- 
ster he appeared, robed in his dressing gown, and addressed 
them from the window of his chamber. This has been called 
his last speech — but this is a mistake — he afterward spoke 
in Boston. John W. Forney, who heard the speech, said 
Webster spoke for a few moments, but in a manner he 
should never forget. His voice, always clear and sonorous, 
rolled with a deeper volume over the crowd. There was no 
bitterness, but an inexpressible sadness in his words. Gov- 
erner Boutwell says of this sjieech : "It was a masterpiece 
of self-control under the most trying circumstances, and an 
exhibition of his genius as an orator, which equalled the best 
efforts of his best days. It was the last brilliant spark of 
his expiring genius." 

"I thank you, fellow citizens, for your friendly and respectful 
call, I am very glad to see you. Some of you have been en- 
gaged in an arduous public duty at Baltimore, the object of your 
meeting being the selection of a fit person to be supported for the 
office of President of the United States. Others of you take an 
interest in the result of the deliberations of that assembly of Whigs. 
It so happened that my name among others was presented on the 
occasion; another candidate, however, was preferred. I have only 
to say, gentlemen, that the convention did, I doubt not, what it 
thought best, and exercised its discretion in the important matter 
committed to it. The result has caused me no personal feeling 
whatever, nor any change of conduct or purpose. What I have 
been I am, in principle and in character, and what I am I hope to 
continue to be. Circumstances or opponents may triumph over 
my fortunes, but they will not triumph over my temper or my self- 
respect. 

Gentlemen, this is a serene and beautiful night. Ten thousand 
thousand of the lights of heaven illuminate the firmament. They 
rule the night. A few hours hence their glory will be extinguished: 

Ye stars that glitter in the skies, 
And gayly dance before mine eyes, 
What are ye when the sun shall rise? 



32 



"Gentlemen, there is not one among you who will sleep better to- 
night than I shall. If I wake I shall learn the hour from the con- 
stellations, and I shall rise in the morning, God willing, with the 
lark; and though the lark is a better songster than I am, yet he 
will not leave the dew and the daisies and spring up and greet the 
purpling east with a more blithe and jocund spirit than I possess. 
Gentlemen, I again repeat my thanks for this mark of your respect, 
and commend you to the enjoyment of a quiet and satisfactory re- 
|)ose. May God bless you all!" 

How he loved his Alma Mater — his native state — hi* 
early home, and family, and all its tender memories and 
associations. 

In the campaign of ltS4() an opponent tried to make party 
capital out of the fact that General Harrison lived in a lay 
cabin. With what withering scorn Webster met and turn- 
ed back the senseless charge : 

"It is only shallow minded pretenders who either make distin- 
guished origin a matter of personal merit, or obscure origin a 
matter of personal reproach. Taunt and scoffing at the humble 
condition of early life, affects no body in America but those who 
are foolish enough to indulge in them, and they are generally suf- 
ficiently punished by the published rebuke. A man who is not a- 
shamed of himself need not be ashamed of his early condition. It 
did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder 
brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, raised among the 
snow-drifts of New Hampshire . at a period so early that when the 
smoke first rose from its rude chimney, and curled over the frozen 
hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation be- 
tween it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains 
still exist; I make it an annual visit. I carry my children to it, to 
teach them the hardships endured by generations gone before them. 
I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the 
early affections, and the narrations and incidents which mingle with 
all I know of this primitive family abode. 1 weep to think that none 
of those who inhabited it are now among the living; and if ever I 
fail in affectionate veneration for him who raised it, and defended 




The Oxford House, websteh's fhyeburg home. 

Built, INOI, by Lieut. Jas. Osgood. Burned, Fel). 1-i, l.s.sT. 



it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all domestic 
comforts beneath its roof, and through the fire and blood of seven 
years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no toil, no sacrifice, to serve 
his country, and to raise his children to a condition better than 
his own, may my name, and the name of my posterity, be blotted 
forever from the memory of mankind."* 

Had I tiiDc 1 would like to speak of Webster as a moralist. 
OiK-e heiiiii' asked the lireatest thouiiht that ever occupied 
his mind, he replied : "My individual responsibility to my 
Maker." lie w as Hesh and blood — he was human — he had 
faults — who has iu)t? "Let him who is without sin cast the 
tirst stone." It is agreed that no one ever heard a tritiing, 
irreverent, or i)rofane word escape his li})s. All his speeches 
and wrltiiiiis show that he thouiiht and felt deeply upon the 
ureat (juestions of "life, death, and the last forever." No 
man has uttered more powerful words in defence of the 
Rible and the Cliristian reliirion than Websterf 



* I never saw Webster— the nearest I came to seeing him was when he went 
tlirough the town, where I was then living- about 26 rods lay between us for a short 
time. The train which bore him through the town made a stop of some time at the 
station in Concord, where a shout and a cheev went up when tfiey heard that Wet>- 
ster was aboard. If the science of wireless, mental, or spiritual telegraphy had 
then been in its present advanced state I would donbtlefs have had a view of the 
paragon of men. I once saw his birth place— the room in which he first saw the 
light, is now standing-owned 1 y Miss Annie Nesmith, daughter of the late Judge 
Nesmith. A plan is on foot for its purchase by the state of Xew Hampshire; as is 
also in Massachusetts, for the purchase of the Marshfield home. In '86 I attended 
the dedication of the Webster statue in the State House grounds at Concord, New 
Hampshire; while there I called on the widow of Ezekiel Webster, then living at the 
great age of nearly too years. I also attended the Centennial of Webster's birth at 
Marshfield in '82— the year Webster's Fiyeburg oration was discovered and pub- 
lished. President Artliur and several members of his cabinet were present. Sec- 
retary Long was then Governer, and presided. An immense concourse of people 
was present, and the oratory was of a very high quality. 

t Lately an extract from Webster's notebook has fallen into my hands, which has 
only recently been given to the world: 

Washington. Jan. 18. 1839. Friday. "I am this day fifty-seven years old. My 
brothers and sisters have all died young. I was by much the most slender and fee- 
ble of the family in early life, but have yet outlived them all, and no one of them, 1 
think, attained my present age; although I am not quite certain how this may have 
been with my half-brother, David Webster, who was older than myself by ten or 
twelve years, and who died in Canada some years ago, but exactly at what time I do 
not know. My father died at sixty-seven. His constitution, naturally very strong. 



34 



I remember when a student here, 1)oardingat the Alumni 
House with that woman of broad mind and sterling sense, 
the widow of Eev. Dr. Hurd, how she used to pore over 
Webster's orations and arguments, specially the one at Ply- 
mouth Rock on the Pilgrims, and the Giraid Will Case, in 
which is his defence of Christianity. You know Girard's 
will forbade any clergyman's enteiing the College, even as 
a visitor. Webster took tl.e ground that tl at was a stigma 
and an insult to every minister of the Gospel — an insult to 
the Christian Religion, and an insult to the Christian nation 
that had protected him in accumulating his vast fortune. 

I wish that 1 had time to tell you that affecting story of 
his visit, the year Ix'fore he died, with his friend, Peter 
Harvey, to his brother-in-law, John Colby, who l,ad been 
such a wicked man, but in his old age had become a Chris- 
tian. Webster had not ceen him for .50 years, and the 
meeting of Joseph and his l)rethren was not more touching 
than the meeting of these aged men. At first Webster did 
not disclose his identity, but when l:e did, tl.ey were both 
deeply affected. The story throughout is very })athetic, 
and as they were about to se[)arate \\'ebster said : "You 



was evidently aft'tcted by the haidsliips and expcisines of liis early life. My uncle 
Benjamin Webster lived to a great age, I believe alx.ve 80 years. He died in Cabot, 
ortlie adjoining town, in Veunont. Unele William Webster went to Salisbury willi 
tny father. He died several yea is ago, being then mneh the longest resident in the 
township, and being. I tliink. something more than seventy years of age. My pa- 
ternal aunts lived, as far as I can remember, to be seventy or more. My mother 
also reached seventy. Her mother, Mrs. Jerusha Fitz, whom I well remember, 
died in my father's home, about .Inne, 179G. aged about ninety years. My own 
liealth, from the age of 25, has been remarkably good; and for little occasional ill 
nesses, I have too often been able to see obvious causes, in want of proper care 
and discretion. If 1 were now to strike out the number of my sick days, those 
which have been occasioned by want of proi)er exercise, by unnecessary exposure, 
and by some degree of intemperance in eating and drinking, I should make a very 
great deduction from the whole list. For this uncommon health, and for all tlie 
happiness of life, which h;is been so far exceedingly haiipy, I desire to render the 
most devout thanks to Almighty God. I thank hlni for existence; for the i)leaMire 
and the glory of rational being; for an innnortal nature; and for all the gratifica- 
tions, the joys and the means of imi)rovement with which he has blessed my earthly 
life; for the time and the countiy in which I have lived; and for those objects of 
love and affection whose being has been entwined with my own." 



35 



caiinot tell, John Colby, how much delight it gave me to 
hear of your conversion. The hearing of that is what has 
led me here today. I came here to see with my own eyes, 
and hear with my own ears, the story from a man that I 
knew and remember well. What a wicked man you used 
to be !" 

"O Daniel I" exclaimed John Colby, "you don't remem- 
ber how wicked I was : how unthankful I was I I never 
thought of God ; I never cared for God; I was worse than 
tlie heathen. Living in a Christian land, with the light 
shining all round me, and the blessings of Sabbath teach- 
ings everywhere about me, I was worse than a heathen un- 
til I was arrested by the grace of Christ, and made to see 
my sinfulness, and to hear the voice of my Saviour. Now 
I am only waiting to go home to Him, and to meet your 
sainted sister, my poor wife. And I wish, Daniel, that you 
might be a prayerful Christian, and I trust you are. Dan- 
iel,'" he added, with deep earnestness of voice, "ir^VZ you 
l)ray with me?" 

We knelt down, and Mr. Webster otiered a most touch- 
ing and eloquent prayer. As soon as he had pronounced 
the "Amen," Mr. Colby followed in a most pathetic, stir- 
ring appeal to God. He prayed for the family, for me, and 
for everybody. Then we rose ; and he seemed to feel a 
serene hai)piness in having thus joined his spirit with that 
of Mr. Webster in prayer. 

"Now," said he, "what can we give youV I don't think 
we have anything that we can give you." 

"Yes, you have," replied Mr. Webster; "you have some- 
thing that is just what we want to eat." "What is it?" "It 
is some bread and milk," said Mr. Webster. "I want a 
bDwl of bread and milk for myself and my friend." Very 
soon the table was set, and a white cloth spread over it : 
some nice bread was set upon it and some milk brought, 
and we sat down to the table and ate. Mr. Webster ex- 



36 



chuined ••ifterwanl. "Didn't it tuste good ? Didn't it taste 
like old times?" 

The !)rothers-in-la\v took an atf'ectionate leave of each 
other, and we left. ^Nlr. Wel)8ter could hardly restrain his 
tears. When we oot into the wagon he began to moralize. 

"I should like," said he, "to know what the enemies of 
religion would say to John Colby's conversion. There was 
a man as unlikely, huniaidy speaking, to become a Chris- 
tian as any man I e^"er saw. He was reckless, heedless, 
impious ; never attended church, never experienced the 
good influence of associating with religious people. And 
here he has been living on in that reckless way until he has 
got to l)e an old man ; until a period of life when you nat- 
urally would not expect his hal)its to change, and yet he 
has been brought into the condition in which we have seen 
him today, a penitent, ti'usting, humble believer. "What- 
ever people may say," added Mr. Webster, "nothing can 
convince me that anything short of the grace of Almighty 
God could make such m change as I with my own eyes have 
witnessed in the life of fFohn Colby." 

When we got back to Franklin, in the evening, we met 
John Taylor at the door. Mr. Webster called out to him, 
"Well, John Taylor, miracles ha})])en in these later days as 
well as in the days of old." What now, squire':"" asked 
John Taylor. "AMiy, John Colby has become a Christian I 
If that is not a miracle, what is?" 

This is the Petei- Harvey who was sui-h a friend of Web- 
ster. One day Webster had received a marked token of 
Mr. Harvey's favor towards himself, and mentioning it to 
one of his friends, he exclaimed: ''lly Jove, he's St. Pe- 
ter." "No, no, no," said Webster — ••Peter Harvey never 
denied his friend I" 

Ever}'' reverent mind nuist i-ontemplate with deej) intei- 
est Wel)ster's Confession of Faith, written upon his dying- 
bed. The engraver's art has prescr\ ed this l)cautiful scene 



37 



of the dyinji' stute.sman. Sunclaj evening, October lOtli, he 
asked a tViend who wa.s sitting with .him to read the ninth 
chapter of Mark, where the man brings his child to Jesus 
to be cured, and the Saviour tells him : "If thou canst be- 
lieve, all things are possible to him that believeth." 

Then Webster wrote the re})ly of the father as an epitaph 
for his own tombstone : 

"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." 

"PhilCso})hical argument, especially that drawn from the 
vastness of the Universe, in comparison with the ai)parent 
insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my 
reason for the faith that is in me ; but my heart has always 
assured and reassured me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
must be a Divine Reality. The Sermon on the Mount can- 
not be a merely human production. This belief enters into 
the very de[)tlis of my conscience. The whole history of 
man proves it."' 

Daniel Webster. 

••'Webster was, beyond doubt, the foremost of American 
Senatoi's. When we think of the Senate Chamber, we think 
of him as its [)rincipal figure and ornament. His place in 
history is that of a public teacher, guiding the thought, and 
inspiring the emotions of his countrymen when the issues 
on which hung the fate of the rejjublic were being deter- 
mined. For this function he was fitted alike by his intel- 
lect and his heart. Mathew Arnold said that our. American 
public men lack distinction. If he did not find it in Web- 
ster the cultured and fastidious Englishman would pr()l)ably 
have denied it to the Apollo Belvidere, orthePhidian Jove. 
Why, the draymen of London turned to look after him in 
the streets. Sidney Smith said he was a cathedral ; yes, a 
steam engine in breeches. He moved to an unwonted ad- 
miration the cynicism of Carlyle. If ever being walked 



38 



the earth chid in the panoply of an imperial manhood, it was 
Daniel Webster. If ever beino- trod the earth of whom the 
Greek or Roman fable wonld have made a demi-god, it was 
this child of the New Hampshire farm-house." Another 
Englishman, the painter Haydon, took a ditferent way to 
express his jove-like bearing and appearance. Meeting 
Webster one day on the streets of London, he went back 
to take a second look, and exclaimed. "My God, what a 
head I — that man nmst be a humhwj, for 'tis impossil)le for 
any mortal man, to be as big as he loolis. to fje." An emi- 
nent statesman has said of W^ebster : "AVe cannot think of 
the Senate Chamber without him. We cannot think of the 
Supreme Court without him. We cannot think of Dart- 
mouth College without him. We cannot think of Faneuil 
Hall without him. We cannot think of Boston, or Concord, 
or Lexington, or Bunker Hill without him. We cannot 
think of New Hampshire without him. We cannot think 
of Massachusetts w-ithout him. We cannot think of Ameri- 
ca without him. We cannot think of the Constitution or 
the Union without him. His tigure naturally belongs to 
and mingles with all great scenes and great places which l)e- 
long to liberty." P^merson said his j)resence would have 
been enough even had he refrained from speech, when the 
monument at Bunker Hill was dedicated. There was the 
monument, and there was Webster I 

I greatly regret that our senior Trustee is not with us to- 
day, to tell us of that great event, for he witnessed that 
pageant, and heard that great master})iece. The crowd 
was enormous and so great was the eagerness to get near 
to see and hear Welister, that many peoi)le came near be- 
ing crushed to death. Mr. A\'ebster, seeing the danger, 
rose and said : "Fall back, gentlemen !" "Mr. W^ebster, 
it is impossible !" answered the crowd. Webster, stretch- 
ing forth his hands, exclaimed : "Is there anything iriq^os- 
sible i'ov the American })eople on Bunker Hill?" — and the 



39 



gre:>t 8e:i of people immediately fell back. 

I do not for one jnoment exempt from this sincere judgment 
and this comuuMuhition, that memoral)le speech of the Sev- 
enth of March, 1<S,')(), as seen in that grand picture* to which, 
many years after its delivery, the term infamous was freely 
ap[)lied. I l)e!ieve I am not lacking in admiration for that 
Spartan band of [)olitical })i()neers, who, at the time that fa- 
mous speech was delivered, were the extreme vanguard of 
the n()l)le army of martyrs, who, 11 years later were to make 
the soil of the Republic- free from the Atlantic to the Paei- 
tic, and from Maim- to the (iulf: but I cannot subscribe to 
the characterization of that speech as infamous. It was not 
the speech of an Abolitionist or a Free Soiler; it was not a 
radical speech as the term "radical" is commonly used, it 
was a r^})eech that l)rcathed the spirit of compromise and 
conciliation. When he said in the opening of that great 
speech : "I s[)eak tochiy for the j)reservation of the Union : 
'Hear me for my cause."" He also said : "It is not to be 
denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations, and 
are surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institu- 
tions of government. The im[)ris()ned winds are let loose. 
The East, the West, the North, and the stormy South, all 
combine to throw the whole ocean into commotion, to toss its 
billows to the skies, and to disclose its profoundest depths."' 
When he uttered these words, he spoke with prophetic eye, 
and saw far deeper into the future than did his critics. He 
saw the dangers and dire disasters of civil war, so elo- 
(piently portrayed in the peroration of his re})ly to Hayne, 
and prayed, "that on that scene, in his day, at least, the 
curtain might not rise." 

Who of us who saw and remember the dread scenes of 
"<)1 to '()5— with burdens of debt to last a century — the 
flower of American youth and manhood laid low by death 



*Tlie fine engraving of Webster, delivering liis Seventli of Alarcii sjieecli, was 
suspended .above the platform. 



40 



and disease, or crippled for life, dragging out a living death 
— many of them without eyes to see — without feet to walk — 
and without hands for useful labor. Who of us would not 
have been glad to have made some concessions to prevent 
calamities like these? The lessons of the civil war have 
taught thoughtful men to modify their harsh judgments of 
Webster. 

To all the reckless and ignorant defamation of that speech, 
I present the lofty patriotism which insj)ires it through and 
through. Its closing sentences rise to the full height of 
that earlier eloquence of 1830, and link themselves with it 
in iit and immortal companionshi|). Who can forget the 
picture of the Republic which Webster paints in the three 
sentences with which he ends the famous sjieech V "This 
Republic now extends with a vast breadth across the whole 
• 'ontinent. The two great seas of the worhl wash the one 
and the other shore. We realize on a mighty scale the 
beautiful descri[)tion of the ornamental border of the buck- 
ler of Achilles : — 

•'Now the broad shield complete the artist crowned 
With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; 
In living silver seemed the waves to roll. 
And beat the buckler's verge and bound the whole." 

Webster did not trim his sail to catch the pojjular breeze. 
He took counsel more from his deep intelligence and his 
broad patriotism, and tried to lead the people in a safe path 
rather than to follow the tickle populace. He often felt it 
his duty to stem the popular tide, and did so, regardless of 
personal consequences. He realized what it was to receive 
from "poor human nature" the stings of ingratitude, and 
the shafts of envy, malice and jealousy, of which the jioet 
speaks : 



41 



"He who ascends to mountain tops, shall find 

The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; 

He who surpasses or subdues mankind, 

Must look down on the hate of those below. 

Though high above the sun of glory glow, 

And far beneath the earth and ocean spread, 

Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow 

Contending tempests on his naked head, 

And thus reward the toils which to those summits lead." 

Webster lifted the I\ei)ublic to the gaze of liis country- 
men as if full sure that no other argument or exhortation 
could be needed to ins[)ire all hearts for its defence, and 
wither any hand raised to divide and destroy it. With un- 
abated and undisturbed self-respect, he wrote upon the title 
page of his s])eech : "With the highest res})cct and the 
deepest sense of obligation, I dedicate this speech lo the 
people of Massachusetts." And then he added tlie words 
of the great Roman statesman: "I know there are other 
things more agreeable to l)e spoken than these things ; but 
necessity compels me to sj)eak true things instead ofjjleas- 
iiKj things, although my inclination might not prompt it. 
I could wish, indeed, to i)lease you; but I much prefer that 
you shoitld be saved, however you may be disposed in mind 
toward me." It would require a microscope of strong pow- 
er to discover anything of the demagogue in language like 
this. 

It is idle, as we all agree, to speculate on what might 
have been. 

"Not Heaven itself upon the past hath power." 

And yet there is a temptation that rises unbidden and urges 
the imagination to picture what might have been the course 
of history, if to the voice of Webster pleading for a i)acitic 
adjustment, there had been added other voices, from Nortlj 
and South alike, until the chorus of the peacemakers had 



42 



drowned the clunior^ of the extremists of I)oth sections I 

Webster, at least, saw the end from the beoinnin"'. He 
had discerned the precipice of civil war in 1830, as clearly 
appears in his re})l y to Hayne : and in 1850 he saw its yawn- 
ing mouth still nearer. The height and depth of his offend- 
ing was this— that he could not ))ring himself to do aught 
hut struggle against the inevitable. To me, at least, and I 
doubt not to many others, the attitude of this majestic man, 
this monarch among men, in view of the storm whose first 
nmtterings greeted his dying ears, is full of })athetic grand- 
eur. He saw only the gulf toward which his fellow coun- 
trymen were rushing ; he beheld in adAance the deluge of 
blood and tears which wa.s to follow — and in an agony of 
spirit he pleaded that the bitter cu}) might pass from the 
lips of the people he had loved and served so well. Well, 
that cup wa.s destined to be drained to its last bitter dregs ; 
and it is our good fortune to live to see what Webster de- 
spaired of — the Constitution and the Union surviving the 
shock of civil war, with a new guarantee of peri)etuity, be- 
cause no slave treads the soil or breathes the air of the l\e- 
public. 

And \\^ebster "still lives," and will live in all the future 
of these United States. His far-seeing statenianship and 
all-embracing patriotism is the lesson and the wisdom for 
this day and hour, as it was for his own day and hour. 
Only his devoted loyalty to the Constitution and the Union, 
become once more and forever, the common creed of all 
our people, North, South, East and West, can bind and 
keep us one, and make it impossible for this "Government 
of the people to perish from the earth.'' The danger which 
threatened the Union in his day is not now, nor is ever again 
likely to become formidable. "Nullification" and "Seces- 
sion" are ol)solete words, having only an historical interest : 
largely made so by the titanic blows of Webster. That 
centrifugal madness is spent ; that dance of death has stopped 



43 



!iii(l the lights are out. But it is fatal to rush headlong in- 
to the central sun, as well as from it, into outer darkness. 
In this Republic, so long as it shall endure, and if it en- 
dures, it will be the task and test of statesmanship to keep 
these revolving States in the middle course around their 
central government, "/n medio fntismmus ibis,'' are the 
warning words of an ancient poet ; they must be the divine 
commandment of American statesmanship. This middle 
way, and this alone, leads up to perfect safety, the best 
liberty, and ever increasing renown. On this radiant path- 
way of the Constitution and the Union the towering torm 
of Web.ster will never fade from the vision of America. 




ADDRESS 

of Prof . Walter A. Robinson. 

The connection of Daniel Webster with Fiyeburg A- 
cademy, as far as the otficial records are concerned, is con- 
tained in the following minutes : 

"Fryel)urg, April 28, 1802. The Trustees met at the 
Academy according to statute. Seven members present. 
The President in the chair. The meeting opened. Voted 
to adjourn to the House of Lieut. James Osgood to meet in 
one quarter of an hour. At the House of Lieut. James Os- 
good met according to adjournment. The meeting opened. 
Voted to accept of the following report of the Committee 
chosen in October last past to provide the Academy with an 
Instructor for the year then next ensuing and that the 
Treasurer be and he is hereby directed to pay the Instruct- 
or or Instructor's according to the wages agreed to be given 
by said committee." 

"Fryeburg, April 28, 1802. 

Your committee chosen to supply the Academy with a 
Preceptor from the tirst of November last past, beg leave to 
report that we engaged the Rev'd Wm. Fessenden to teach 
in the Academy for two months from the said first of No- 
vember and Mr. Daniel Webster from the iirst of January 
last past at the ])rice of 3.50 dollars per year and in that pro- 
portion for })art of a year. 

David Page ) „ 

Judah Dana \ Committee. 

Voted that the thanks of the Board be presented to Pre- 



46 



ceptor Webster for his services this day, and that he woukl 
accept five dollars as a small acknowledgment of their sens'? 
of his services this day performed.* 

September 1st 1802. At the House of Lieut. James Os- 
good. The meeting adjourned to this time and place was 
opened. Seven members present. The President in ihe 
chair. 

Voted that the Secretary return the thanks of this Board 
to Mr. Daniel Webster for his fiiithful services while Pre- 
ceptor of Fryeburg Academy. 

September 1st, 1802. Your committee chosen to supply 
the Academy with an Instructor from the first of November 
last past, ask leave to report that Mr. Daniel Wel)ster, the 
gentleman emjiloyed as Preceptor since the first of Janu- 
ary last, being desirous to leave the Academy, we have en- 
'Taofed Mr. Amos Jones Cook as Preceptor in the Academv, 
at the rate of 350 dollars salary per year. 

Wm Fessenden } Committee. 
Judah Dana ^ 

The following are the names of thepuj)ils in the Academy 
while Daniel Webster was preceptor : — 

1. Samuel Fessenden. Son of Rev.Wm. Fessenden, the first 

Secretary of Trustees. He was the father of William 
Pitt Fessenden. 

2. William Haley. Pioneer of Haleyville, purchasing the 
land of H. Y. B. Osgood. 

3 William Page. Probably a physician at Brunswick, and 

father of Mrs. Jas. J. Rogers, late of Fryeburg. 
4. David Page, Jr. 

"*In a leUer dated Fiyeburg. May 18, 1802. Mr. Webster tells Mr. Jiinies H. Eing- 
ham; About three weeks ago we had our semi-annual exhibition. The i)erforni- 
ance.s at the school were such, 1 believe, as gave satisfaction to the Trustees. h\ 
truth I was not much ashamed of their appearance. The Trustees were pleased to 
l)ass a vote of thank.s, as also to present their i)receptor a small extraordinary 
gratuity." 



47 



5. .Fanies Page. 

(). John Page. Captain in U. S. A. in Mexican war. 
Mortally wounded at i'alo Alto. A son Harry is in 
the army in the Phillipines, and William is a Chicago 
lawyer. 

7. Nathaniel Osgood. His father was John from over the 
river. His descendants live in the South. 

8. Susannah Osgood, also called Susan. Daughter of 
James and Abigail. She married H. Y. B. Osgood, 
and was mother of Joshua B. ; John L. is a grandson. 

i*. Jane Osgood, sister of Susan. Married Gilbert Mc 
Millan of N. Conway. John is her son and Janette a 
grand-daughter. 

10. Anna Osgood, sister of Susan. Married Capt. Joshua 
B. Osgood of Portland. Her sons were Edward S. 
and Dr. Charles Henry. 

11. Polly Osgood, sister of Susan. Married Stephen 
Chase, P]sq. 

12. James Osgood, jr., brother of Polly. Married Eliza 
Lovejoy Osgood. His daughter, Eliza Ann, married 
Gov. Dana. Mrs. H. H. Smith is a daughter of Gov. 
Dana. Mary S., Edward S., and the late Frederic B. 
are children of Maj. James Osgood. 

13. Jonathan Piper. 

14. Gilbert McMillan. Father of the late John McMillan of 
Conway. 

15. Thomas Osgood. Uncle of Martha Stickney. 
IB. James Merrill. 17. Benjamin Kimball. 

18. John Farrington 8rd. 

19. Isaac Spring. Brother of Samuel Spring of Portland. 
A son William lives in Brownfield. 

20. Jacob Brown. 

21. Jacob Evans. Son of Capt. Wm. Evans, who was the 
iirst white male child born in Fryeburg. Kept store 
in Fryeburg. 



48 



22. Jonathan S. Evans. Brother of Jacol). His son Caleb 
P., a mail agent at 8a<"ramento, Cal. 

23. Richard Howard. 24. Young Walker. 
25. Thomas Hill. 26. Polly Abbott. 

27. Eleazar Rosebrook. A brother-in-law of "the Patri- 
arch of the Hills," Abel Crawford. 

28. Edward Shirley, jr. 29. Joshua Nickerson. 
30. John Spring. 31. Marshall Spring. 
32. Reuben Richardson. 33. Polly Merrill. 

34. Robert P. Osgood. Lived to be very old. Often a 
hired man at McMillan's. 

35. John Colby. 

36. James W. Ripley. Member of Congress, and father of 
H, W. Ripley. 

37. Thomas Whittle. 38. William Graffam. 

39. James Marston. 

New pupils after Feb. 1, 1802. 

40. Otis Merrill. 41. William Merrill. 

42. Patty Page. Sister of Capt. John, Mrs. Martha Quim- 
by. 

43. Eliza B. Osgood. Wife of Maj. James Osgood. 

44. Jonathan Paul. 45 Jacob Colby. 

46. Enoch Wel)ster. Oldest son of Col. John Webster, 
over the river. 

47. Elijah Farrington. 48. Meshech Weare Page. 
49. Robert Weeks. 50. Robert Reed. 

51. Silas Osgood. Son of John over the river. 

52. David Potter. 

53. Amos Osgood. Father of the late Dr. Wm. Osgood 
of Yarmouth, and of Henry S. Osgood of Portland. 
New pupils after May 1, 1802. 

54. Joseph Graffam. 55. James Holmes. 

56. Sophia McMillan. Sister of Gilbert McMillan. 

57. Sarah Stickney. 

58. Abigail Osgood. (Mrs. Jas. W. Rii)ley.) 



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49 



.')i). Edward Ctnlton. jr. (iO. Bonjaiuin Kilinore. 

(;i. Jacol) Osgood. 112. Polly Hill. 

();>. Xatliaiiiel Hezelliiie. 

1)4. Scth Chase. Father of^Irs. Josej)!! Chandler. Graiid- 

tather of Mrs. :Mary K. Charles. 
()."). A\'illiani Webster. (>H. Thomas Chadhourne.* 

(i7. Alfred Benton. f 'i-"^- Mehitable Fessenden. 

()1>. Hannah Frye, danghter of Samuel, grand-daughter of 

(len. Josej)h Frye. 

70. Moses Hardy. 

71. Samuel Frye, jr. (Jrandson of (ieneral Frye. founder 
of the town. 

72. Elizabeth ( )sgood. 

When the Ti'ustees adjourned April 2^, l.S()2, to the 
House of Lieut. -lames Osgood to meet in a quarter of an 
hour, the following bill sliows what was waiting for them, 
riie Trustees of Fryeburg Academy to 

flames ( )sgood. Dr. S. D. 

Ai)ril 2S. To 14 Dinners at 1 shilling 2 penee each 1(> 4 
To Liijuors and exi)enses 10 H 



£ S. D. 

1 (I 10 
Sept. 1. 'I\) paid ,Jos. Lewis for mending 

diair 3 

To 1 pint Rum 2 



"In the CenteniiiHl year of the Acatleniy. in 1892, his daiigliter. Maitlia ({'liac!- 
l)()iiriie) Uaveii, of Charlton. Mass.. sent me two nunihers of tlie ■•Academical Repos- 
itory." printed witli a pen in 1807. "Commencing at six years of aye, in 179t;. 1 con- 
tinned to attend most of the time to ]810; beginning when Paul l.angdon was Pre- 
ceptor, next Daniel Welister, finishing under Precejitor Cook in 1810." .Alemoran- 
diini fonnil in Dr. Cliadbonrne's papers. Dr. Chadbourne was born at N.Conway. 
We knew him as an eminent I'liysician at ("oncord. N. H.. fifty years ago. nis father 
was Dr. AVni. ciiadbonrne wlio built tlie first mill at N. Conway. [A. F. L.] 

tSon of Dr. .los. Benton, and brother of the late Hon. Nathaniel Soley lieiiton li 
New York, who was a student here, and left in his will .-fSOOO for our Academy. In 
his letter to the Town Centennial in 1863, he says that he was a student to Webster, 
though Ills name does not appear on tlie records of 1802. [A. F. F..] 



50 



There is, also, one more reference, in the Secretary's re- 
cords, to Daniel Webster, which may, perhaps, best appear 
from the following sequence of events : 

Jan. 15, 1806. 

Voted that Judah Dana and Samuel A. Bradley, Esqrs., 
be agents to })etition the Legislature for a donation in land, 
the proceeds of which to be appropriated to the instruction 
of females in the Academy. 

y\pril 23, 1806. 

Voted, that a committee of three be appointed to consider 
the expediency of em[)loying an lyistructres,^, the summer 
ensuing, and report relative to the same at our next meet- 
ing. 

April 26, 1806. 

Voted to accept the follow^ing report, viz., 

The committee appointed to consider the expediency of 
establishing Female Instruction in the Academy, do report 
that they have considered the subject, and are of the opinion 
that it will be expedient to employ a Preceptress for the 
two summer quarters next ensuing, the expenses of which, 
to the Trustees, will not, in our opinion, exceed oO dollars. 

The committee further report that it would be the dut}' 
of a Preceptress to instruct in Xeedle-work, Embroidery, 
and Painting, and likewise to assist in the instruction of 
Reading, Writing, and English Grammar, and that the tui- 
tion in those branches, exclusively feminine, be raised and 
established, as the Boaid may hereafter think proper. Be- 
lievino; that a school for females would not only be service- 
able to them, but would likewise aid the Trustees in obtain- 
ino; an additional grant from the Government of this Goni- 
nionwealth, we do sincerely recommend it for two quarters 
in the ensuing summer. 

June 4, 1806. 

Voted, that the tuition of those students who attend to 
needle-work, embroidery, })ainting, ctc.,be one dollar high- 



51 



er than the usual tuition. 

Nov. 13, 18()(i. 

Voted, to return the thankful acknowledgment of this 
Board to each of the persons who generously gave tickets 
to the Academy and present them with a copy of the Rev- 
erend X. Porter's Dedicatory Sermon. 

Dee. 25, 1806. 

Voted, that all the money drawn before this time by lot- 
tery tickets presented to Fryei)urg Academy be laid out in 
other public tickets as soon as may be convenient. 

Voted, that the Secretary record the subscription paper 
draughted l)y D. Webster Esq., signed by him and others. 

Voted, that the tirst vote passed at this meeting be con- 
sidered, and that so uuich only of the sum drawn by said 
tickets, as said tickets (drawn) originally cost, be again 
laid out in the })urchase of other public lottery tickets. 

This is the subscription paper ordered recorded above : 

The subscribers agree to pay to Mr. Amos J. Cook the 
sums set to their respective names, to be by him appropri- 
ated to the purchase of Tickets in some public lottery — the 
money drawn as prize to said tickets is to be given in trust 
to the Trustees of Fryeburg Academy, to l)e by them ap- 
plied in such manner as to them seems best, to the support 
of a school for the instruction of young Ladies in Music 
and Painting. If the sum drawn as prize to said tickets, 
shall be equal to 500 dollars, paying deductions, the same 
shall be vested in public funds, and the annual profits alone 
expended; if a less sum shall be drawn, it shall be api)ro- 
priated to the ()l)ject herein expressed, as the said trustees 
shall deem most proper. The said school, if estal)lished, 
is to I)e attached to Fryelnirg Academy, and to be a branch 
thereof. 

D. Webster, $5.00 John McMillan, $5.00 

Judah Dana, 5.00 James Osgood, 5.00 

Samuel A. Bradley, 5.00 Theodore Mussey, 5.00 



52 



5.00 


5.00 


5.00 


5.00 


5.00 


5.00 


5.00 



Philip Page, 5.00 

Abigail Osgood and 
Abiel Farnham, 5.00 

J. Dana, 1-2 ticket, $2.50 pd. 
Tim. Frisbie, 1-2 do. 2.50 pd. 
Mehitable McMillan, 

1-2 ticket, 2.50 pd. 
Hannah Page, do. 2.50 pd. 
Lewis McMillan, 5.00 

5.00 



Joseph Woodman, 
Moses Bradbury, 

John Spring, 
T. G. Thornton, 
Foxwell Cutts, 

Benja. Dearborn, 

Nicholas Emery, 

James Osgood and Gilbert McMillan, 

Abner Sawyer, one ticket paid. 

The above is a true copy of the subscription drafted by 
D. Webster and subscribed by him and others. (Made in 
August, A. D., 1806). 

Attest, J. Dana, Secretary. 

This money seems to have been invested in the "Piscat- 
aqua Bridge Lottery," from which $148 was drawn, the 
"Araoskeag Canal Lottery," from which there was no re- 
turn, and the "Harvard College Lottery," from which $88 
was drawn. 

Oct. 8, 1807. 

Voted that Samuel A. Bradley and Preceptor Cook, be 
a committee to lay out the proceeds of tl)€ last purchase of 
tickets, and continue to vest the sum which may be drawn 
by said tickets until the proceeds thereof amount to $500, 
or decrease to nothing, or until this Board shall otherwise 
order. 

In a letter to Mr. Fuller, dated at Fryelmrg, Aug. 29,^ 
1802, a day or two before he was succeeded by Mr. Amos 
J. Cook, Webster writes : 

"You will naturally inquire how I prosper in the article 
of cash ; tinely I finely ! I came here in January with a horse ; 
and watch, etc., and a few 'rascally counters' in my pocket ; 
was soon ol)liged to sell my horse and live on the })roceeds. 
Still straitened for «'ash, I sold my watch, and made a shift 



53 



to get home, where my friends supplied me with another 
horse and another watch. My horse is sold again, and my 
watch goes, I expect this week ; thus you see how I lay up 
cash. If Cook or somebody else does not soon come to re- 
lieve me, I sliall be so rich that I shall be worth just noth- 
ing at all." 

In Webster's autobiography is the following: 

"Being graduated in August, 1801, I immediately entered Mr. 
Thompson's office, in Salisbury, next door to my father's, to study 
the law. There I remained till January following, viz., January, 
1802. The necessity of the case required that I should then go 
somewhere and gain a little money. I was written to, luckily, to 
go to Fryeburg, Maine, to keep school. I accepted the offer, travers- 
ed the country on horseback, and commenced my labors, I was to 
be paid at the rate of 350 dollars per annum. This was no small 
thing, for I compared it not with what might be before me, but 
what was actually behind me. It was better, certainly, than fol- 
lowing the plough. But let me say something in favor of my own 
industry; not to make a merit of it, for necessity sometimes makes 
the most idle industrious. It so happened that I boarded, at 
Fryeburg, with the gentleman, James Osgood, Esq., who was Reg- 
ister of Deeds of the then newly created County of Oxford. He 
was not clerical, in and of himself, and his registration was to be 
done by deputy. The fee for recording at full length a common 
deed, in a large fair hand, and with care requisite to avoid errors, 
was two shillings and three pence. Mr. Osgood proposed to me 
that I should do this writing, and that of the two shillings and 
three pence for each deed, I should have one shilling and six 
pence, and he should have the remaining nine pence. I greedily 
seized on so tempting an offer, and set to work. Of a long winter's 
evening I could copy two deeds, and that was half a dollar. Four 
evenings in a week earned two dollars, and two dollars a week 
paid my board. This appeared to me to be a very thriving con- 
dition, for my 350 dollars salary as a school-master was thus go- 
ing on, without abatement or deduction for vivres. I hope yet to 
have an opportunity to see, once more, the first volume of the Re- 
cord of Deeds for the County of Oxford. It is now near 30 years 



54 



since I copied into it the last 'witness my hand and seal;' and 1 
have not seen even its outside since. But the ache is not yet out 
of my fingers; for nothing has ever been so laborious to me as 
writing, when under the necessity of writing a good hand. 

In May of this year, (1802), having a week's vacation, I took 
my quarter's salary, mounted a horse, went straight ov-er all the 
hills to Hanover, and had the pleasure of putting there, the first 
earnings of my life, into my brother's hands, for his college ex- 
penses. Having enjoyed this sincere and high pleasure, I hied 
me back again to my school and my copying of deeds. I stayed 
in Fryeburg only till September. My brother then came to see 
me; we made a journey together to the lower part of Maine, and 
returned to Salisbury." 

The life and labors of Daniel Webster have been a pro- 
lific theme for the essayist, historian and orator for now 
nearly a century. His famous cases have been tried again 
and again. His political speeches have been considered in 
their effects upon the policy of his party and his own poli- 
tical ambition. His state papers have called for their meed 
of praise, or blame. Only Senator Hoar has struck that 
note which must continue to be heard if we are to regard 
the Civil War as the most critical period of our history, and 
therefore the agencies that brought it to a successful issue, 
deserving of our most profound gratitude. 

We celebrate today the centennial of the commencement 
of the labors of Daniel Webster among the youth of this 
vicinity, as preceptor of Fryeburg Academy. The records 
show that his labors were fruitful of good. He deserves to 
rank among successful American educators from tJie lasting- 
impressions he made upon his pupils. Senator Hoar says 
he deserves the title of educator, above all other titles, be- 
cause the enduring work of his life was to educate the 
youth of the North and West and border states to such de- 
votion for the Union and Constitution, that when the call 
to arms came in their defence, no sacrifice of blood ortreas- 



55 



lire was too great to be made. 

I shall attempt to point out very briefly, how, though per- 
haps unwittingly on his part, this great educator trained 
his pupils. 

His preparation to teach was a j)rofound study of the Con- 
stitution, and a deej) insight into the i)riiu'iples of govern- 
ment under law. Then, again, he was of impressive form 
and bearing, and, withal, an orator of commanding ability. 
Let us add, also, that his professional duties and high offices 
in the government gave him the opportunity to speak with 
authority. Yet other men, with all these, have had but 
feeble induence to mould public opinion. The secret of 
his power lay, I think, in the many invitations he accepted 
to address public gatherings of citizens in most of the states 
of the Union, still more that he felt so deeply, he could not 
keep from making the Constitution and Union his frequent 
theme, and, rnost of all, that in his orations, he spoke clear- 
ly and logically, and in separate paragraphs of not great 
length completed the consideration of the different heads in- 
to which he divided his subjects. 

It is natural for the youth (jf the land to i)rci)are and de- 
claim parts of addresses bearing uj)on the living questions 
of the hour. But the orations of Daniel Webster lend them- 
selves most readily to their purpose, because a selection 
from any one of them may be made, taking but a few min- 
utes in deliver}', yet complete in argument, and often with 
introduction and peroration. No wonder they were repeat- 
ed in every school house in the north, as they were ; and no 
wonder, they confirmed the courage of the youth to enter 
upon, and fight through the great contest for Union and 
C'onstitution. While "John Brown's Body" was the march- 
ing song of the Boys in Blue, "Libert}' and Union, now and 
forever, one and inseparable," was his frequent thought and 
speech in the camp and on picket duty. 

It was thus that Daniel Webster became the j^reat educa- 



56 



tor, the beginning of whose services as a teacher, began a 
century ago in this village, in her Academy. 



POEM 

Bead by Miss Susav M. WaR-er 



JAN. 1ST, 1902, 



Why is this band of friends today met here? 
Is it once more to welcome a New Year? 
Why to this year is greater honor due? 
What is there magical in Nineteen-two? 
The newness of the Century is past, 
No other year can be the first and last. 

And now the Century is well begun, 
(How great will be its deeds before 'tis done) 
None of us here will live to see that day — 
Will our deeds live when we have passed away? 
But do we promise what great work we'll do 
In this year present — Nineteen- hundred two? 

First, let our glances to the dim past turn. 
It may be, from it, lessons we may learn. 
And as the words in the first Easter said 
We'll 'seek for one still living 'mong the dead,' 
For he whose name we honor here today. 
Still lives — tho' years have passed away 
Since he, o'ercome by party toil and strife. 
And friends averted, sorrowing closed his life. 



SI 



Here, a hundred years ago, a youth, he came, 
Honor and wealth to win — (a losing game!) ., . 

To hhn there came no wealth— \he honor's ours,' , 
So Fate sometimes the undeserving dowers. ^ „• ^ , , 
And we for years have acted on the rule • 
To boast, that "£)anie.l WeTjster taiight our scHoqI,,/ 

Our pride is right, for in no other place 
Did Webster's form the seat of teacher grace. 
And with this prestige, why should we not aim 
To make our subject worthy of his name? 
So that in future years our school shall stand, 
] .A fitting monument ;t;ht?o"o;iit the lai^d, , ' jjjjl 
Of that great man, so long our country's pride, 
Honored as well in other; laij^s beside. 

As thus we rev'rently attempt unroll 

The ancient record of our history's scroll, 
'^'^-■' How many names in rays oflight appear, 1 

'^►drio W\i6 in first decades- lived and labored here. 3ilJ 

Ji!-^-: biThe brilliant Langdon, and the patient Cook, '-/lit 

biifij ijWhose rigid mind no carelessness could JDrook—;, -.,,,,iA ol 
Jno^ i,>A:nd Fe6s.enden, the pasto|4()y^fl,^,\vh,ose.^£al .,.j^^j„^^ ^ >.3 
-dhiit^F^'' learning, first, in motion set the wheel, ^j^^Jj^-j ^^jj .^j 
•i - Whose revolutions gave to us this boon . , , 

V^ I'T.MJij^: ,•; , _' ■; : . ^ ^ -.. L.'.-'ilJJvUTiliS -dllii 1 lii l-di 

. . Of higher education — none to,o sdon / 

To meet th aspiring spirits of those days, 
'- * r-^'Xhat early sought to 'walk in wisdom*s wafi;^*-I^®^^^^^^*^^ '^' 

And now another name before us stands, .Diiow 9iiJ 

iio^i'jftpQj. j^ ^i^jg j^Q^jgg^ erected 'neath his handsj ^-i,iHwolIo'5: 

giiiixjbTb'J'-astbr H'tjrd arittfefeddFpt*aisfei^-dtiV^^'^'^'^^ .- bib odw 
to qific'And'' deserved feotior.'OniJjLsbired b^;fewr— lunJuiDYafl suit 
-bsso'jU' ! ':t; ;■ '■•— -'-■;;';;-^ nv(^r;jij Lj-: ■.■':;■! 9 d fioqxi 9 JjBiS 
^goir!-ij3({rheidiDol, thro' life, to sbfai-as'^hild, was dearjidsjsW "gai 
-iiUMi dFor it he toiled and labored year by year, it)il"t>hi sdi oJfli 
ino'/l A^atching its interests with a careful eye ,^ 'ijjo lo ViJSa'JQV 
, , r t , , t That suiffered. n o untoward influence nigh, j^^^ i^Jads W 



58 



So we 'among the dead the living' seek, 
May Pastor Hard in 'living accents' speak, 
Urging to better deeds in years to come — 
Deeds and words worthy of the Pastor's Home, 
And mindful ever of the great and gone, 
We'll courage take, and cheerful labor on. 



Letters of Washington, Adams and 
Jefferson. ' 



It i.s with no ordinary degree of pleasure that we make 
the announcement that the long-lost autograph letters ofthe 
tirst three Presidents ofthe United States, written and !-ent 
to Amos J. Cook, who i)resided over our Academy a third 
of a century, have been found. Following is the letter sent 
by the Father of his Country to Jefferson, our then Minis- 
ter at I'arls, announcing the adoption ofthe Constitution of 
the United "States by the Federal Convention, then sitting 
at Philadelphia. It will be seen that this is a very impor- 
tant historical letter, and is now for the tirst time given to 
the world. 

Following this are the letters of Adams and Jefferson 
who did so much to sustain the hands of Washington during 
the Revolution — and then to guide, and direct the Ship of 
State upon her new and untried course — and after succeed- 
ing Washington in the Presidential chair, together passing 
into the higher life on the Fourth of July, the fiftieth anni- 
versary of our country's birth and then receiving from 

Webstei- that great eulogy, so ekujuent and fitting to the 



59 



extraordinary scene. 

We have every reason to l)elieve that these valuable let- 
ters will soon ])e returned to the Trustees, to be by them 
guarded with the most jealous care, as golden links bind- 
ing our venerable school to the Fathers of the Republic. 

Philadelphia, Septr. 

i8th, 1787. 
Dear Sir, 

Yesterday put an end to the business of 
the Federal Convention — Enclosed is a copy of the Constitution 
it agreed to recommend. 

Not doubting but that you have participated in the general anx- 
iety which has agitated the mind of your countrymen on this in- 
teresting occasion, I shall be pardoned I am certain for this en- 
deavor to relieve you from it, especially when I assure you of the 
sincere regard and esteem with which 1 have the honor to be 

Dear Sir 
Yr. most obedt. (S; 

most Hble Servt 
His excellency 

Thos. Jefferson. Geo. Washington. 



LF:TTER P^ROM JOHN ADAMS to AMOS J. COOK. 

Quincy, January 4, iSog. 

Sir 

1 have received, with much pleasure your obliging 
Letter of the 23d of last month, and thank you for the enclosed 
elegant Translation of the Spanish Latin verses. 

The sense and spirit of that morsel of purer Morality than 
elegant Latinity, is very well preserved in the Translation into 
English Rhyme, while the easy natural air of an original Com- 
position is given to it. Mr. Thomas Fessenden,* at eighteen 
years of age must possess a Genius in general and a Talent for 

*Son of Eev. William Fessenden, a distinguished New York lawyer. 



60 



Poetry in particular, of uncommon fertility and certainly deserves 
applause and encouragement. I lament his unfortunate Infirmity 
and hope he will be soon restored to perfect health. 
I am Sir with esteem and respect, your 

very humble Servant 

J. Adams 

I have shown the Translation to my Brother C ranch and to the 
Ladies of our Families who are all Lovers of Poetry and some of 
them good Judges. They all applaud the Composition as having 
great Merit. 

Mr. Amos J. Cook, 



JEFFEESON'S LETTER TO AMOS J. COOK. 

The letter from Jefferson, as w\\\ be seen, contains refer- 
ences to the letter from Adams, Mr, Cook, it would seem, 
having, in his letter to Jefferson, copied an epigraph from 
some Spanish monk which Mr, Cook's letter from Adams 
contained. 

The two Latin quotations in Jefferson's letter are from 
Cicero's Tusculan Disputations and Horace's Satires resjject- 
ively. As some of our readers may be so rusty in their 
classics as to be obliged, when reading Latin, to consult 
their lexicons occasionally. We will save them the trouble 
of doing so by appending in foot notes, parahrastic transla- 
tions of the original. 

MoNTicELLO, January 2 1, 1816. 

Sir: Your favor of December i8th was exactly a month on its 
way to this place; and I have to thank you for the eloquent and 
philosophical lines communicated by the Nestor of our Revolution. 
Whether the style or sentiment be considered, they were well 
worthy the trouble of being copied and communicated by his pen. 
Nor am 1 less thankful for the happy translation of them. It adds 



61 



another to the rare instances of a rival to its original; — superior, 
indeed, in one respect, as the same outline of sentiment is brought 
within a compass of better proportion, for if the original be liable 
to any criticism, it is that of giving too great extension to the 
same general idea. Yet it has a great authority to support it, that 
of a wiser man than all of us; "1 sought in my heart to give my- 
self unto wine; I made me great works; I builded me houses; I 
planted me vineyards; 1 made me gardens and orchards, and pools 
to water them; I got me servants and maidens, and great pos- 
sessions of cattle; I gathered me also silver and gold and men 
singers and women singers and the delights of the sons of men, 
and musical instnuuents of all sorts, and whatsoever mine eyes de- 
sired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy. 
Then 1 looked on all the work that my hands had wrought, and, 
behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit! I saw that wisdom 
excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness."* The Preach- 
er, whom I abridge, has indulged in a much larger amplification 
of his subject. I am not so happy as my friend and ancient col- 
league, Mr. jS.dams, in possessing anything original, inedited, and 
worthy of comparison with the epigraph of the Spanish monk. I 
can offer but humble prose, from the hand, indeed, of the father 
of eloquence and philosophy, a moral morsel, which our young 
friends under your tuition should keep ever in their eye as the ul- 
timate term of your instructions and of their labors; 

"Hie, quisqni.s est, qui moderatione et constantia quietus animo est sibique ipse 
l)lacatus, ut iiec tabescat niolestiis, uec frangauir tiiiiore, iiec sitieiiter quid exj etens 
ardeat desiderio, iiec alacrilate I'utili gestiens deliquescat, is est sapiens queni 
quaerinnis, is est beatus, cui nihil liumauarum rerum aut intolerabile ad deniitten- 
dum aninium aut niuiis laetabile ad efferendum videri potest. "t 

Or, if a poetical dress will be more acceptable to the fancy of 

the juvenile student: — 

"QuisiiMUi igitur liber?— Sapiens, sibi qui iniperiosus, 
Quein neque i^auper ies neque mors neque vincula terrent, 
Respousare cupidinibus, contemnere bouores 
Fortis, et in se ipsototus, teres atque rotundus, 

*See EccLESiASTEs, ii., 3—13. 

fWhoever has his mind kept in repose by moderation and firmness, and is at 
peace with himself, so that he is neither wasted by trouble nor broken down by 
fear, neither burns with longing in his quest of some object of desire nor oveiflows 
in the demonstration of empty joy, is the wise man whom we seek, he is the happy 
man, to whom no human fortune can seem either so insupportable as to cast him 
down or so joyful as to elate him unduly." 



62 



Extern! ne quid valeat per leve morari, 
111 quern nianca ruit senijier Fortuna."$ 

And, if the wise be the happy man, as these sages say, he must 
be virtuous too, for, without virtue, happiness cannot be. This, 
then, is the true scope of all academical emulation. 

You request something in the handwriting of General Washing- 
ton. I enclose you a letter which I received from him while in 
Paris, covering a copy of the new Constitution. It is offered 
merely as what you ask, a specimen of his handwriting. 

On the subject of your museum I fear I cannot flatter myself 
with being useful to it. Were the obstacle of distance out of the 
way, age and retirement have withdrawn me from the opportuni- 
ties of procuring objects in that line. 

With every wish for the prosperity of your institution, accept the 
assurance of my great esteem and respect, 

Thomas Jffferson. 



LETTERS OF WEBSTER. 



The Centennial Anniversary of Lovewell'.s Fight, which 
was celebrated with great enthusiasm May li', 1825 called 
forth the following letter. Chas. S. Daveis was the orator 
of the day, and Gov. Enoch Lincoln was the })oet. The o- 
ration was printed at the time — the poem, after long search, 
we regret to say, cannot be found. 

Washington, Feb. 14, 1825. 
Eben Fessenden, jr., Esq., and Robert Bradley, Esq.: 
Gentlemen, — 

I have received your kind letter of the ist instant, requesting 
my attendance with you on the 19th of May, to celebrate the an- 
niversary of the interesting event which took place in your neigh- 



t" Who, then, is free? The man that is wise; he wiio governs liimself with an ab- 
solute power; whom neither poverty nor death nor chains are able to affright: who 
has the courage to bridle his passion and despise honors; whose happiness dei)ends 
upon himself alone; who gathei's himself like a hedgehog into so round a shape 
that no outward accident can harm him; in short, upon whom the attenii)ts of for- 
tune are unsuccessful." 



63 



borhood one hundred years ago. It would give me great pleasure 
to comply with this request if it were in my power, but my en- 
gagements for that period of the year are such as wholly to forbid 
it. You are very right in supposing that a visit to your town 
would be pleasant to me. For several years past I have intended 
each summer to make such a visit, and still hope ere long to have 
that pleasure. I always hear with much satisfaction of the pros- 
perity of your interesting village, and am gratified at this proof 
that I am not forgotten by those for whom I retain on my part an 
undiminished regard. I pray you to make my remembrance and 
respects acceptable to friends and neighbors, and allow me to of- 
fer to yourselves, as to old and well remembered friends, the as- 
surance of my sincere esteem. 

Daniel Webster. 



The Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Academy, which 
was commemorated with appropriate exercises in 1842, 
called forth thefoilowino; letter from Mr. Webster, who ev- 
er took a deep interest in the institution, it being the scene 
of his first labors after leaving college : — 

Washington, Aug. 25, 1842. 
To Carlton Hurd, Amos Richardson, Asa Charles: — 

Gentlemen, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of the 4th of this month. When twenty years old, I 
found myself, at the suggestion of a valued friend, now of long 
standing, in your pleasant village, engaged in an attempt at in- 
structing youth. I was there, I think, about nine months, and, 
however successful or unsuccessful I may have been in teaching 
others, it was not lost time in regard to my own progress. I found 
in Fryeburg, even at that earlv day, most of the elements of a hap- 
py New England village which Dr. Belknap has described; a learn- 
ed, amiable, and excellent minister of the Gospel, a pattern of de- 
vout feeling, and affectionate intercourse with his people, seeking 
always to strengthen the persuasions of the pulpit by the influence 
of his own example, and thus 



64 



••Allure to brighter worlds and lead the way;" 
educated and respectable gentlemen of the other professions, one 
of them near enough to my own age for daily companionship, nev- 
er to be forgotten, and engaged in that pursuit of life to which I 
have since been devoted; a small but well selected library, with 
which I cultivated a useful acquaintance; and a general circle of 
friendly and agreeable acquaintances. To the recollection of such 
things and such scenes it is impossible to revert without feelings 
both of gratitude and pleasure. Long may your institution flour- 
ish in usefulness, and long may health and peace, prosperity and 
happiness, be the lot of the village! 

To all who may remember me 1 pray you to give my cordial 
salutations, and, if there be among you any of those who sought 
to learn Latin or Greek, or to read or cipher, under my veteran 
tuition, please say to them that 1 trust tiieir children have had 
better instruction than their fathers. 

I am, gentlemen, with regard, 

Yours, (Jtc, Daniel Webster. 



DECLAMATION. 

SOUTH CAROLINA AND MASSACHU.SKTTS 
hy Floyd W. BurnelL 

The eulogium pronounced on the character of the state of South 
Carolina, by the honorable gentleman, for her revolutionary and 
other merits, meets my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowl- 
edge that the honorable member goes before me in regard for 
whatever of distinguished talent, or distinguished character. South 
Carolina has produced. I claim part of the honor, 1 partake in 
the pride of her great names. I claim them for countrymen, one 
and all. The Laurenses, the Rutledges, the Pinckneys, the 
Sumpters, the Marions — Americans all— whose fame is no more 
to be hemmed in by state lines, than their talents and patriotism 



65 



were capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow 
limits. 

In their clay and generation, they served and honored the coun- 
try, and the whole country, and their renown is of the treasures of 
the whole country. Him, whose honored name the gentleman 
himself bears — does he suppose me less capable of gratitude for 
his patriotism, or sympathy for his sufferings, than if his eyes had 
first opened upon the light in Massachusetts, instead of South 
Carolina.'' Sir, does he suppose it in his power to exhibit a Car- 
olina name so bright, as to produce envy in my bosom? No, sir, 
—increased gratification and delight, rather. Sir, 1 thank God, 
that if I am gifted with little of the spirit which is said to be able 
to raise mortals to the skies, I have yet none, as I trust, of that 
other spirit which would drag angels down. 

When I shall be found, sir, in my place here in the Senate, or 
elsewhere, to sneer at public merit, because it happened to spring 
up beyond the little limits of my own state or neighborhood; when 
1 refuse, for any such cause, or for any cause, the homage due to 
American talent, to elevated patriotism, to sincere devotion to lib- 
erty and the country; or if I see an uncommon endowment of 
heaven — if I see extraordinary capacity and virtue in any Son of 
the South — and if, moved by local prejudice, or gangrened by 
state jealousy, I get up here to abate the tithe of a hair from his 
just character and just fame, may my tongue cleave to the roof of 
my mouth. 

Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachu- 
setts — she needs none. There she is — behold her and judge foi 
yourselves. There is her history — the world knows it by heart. 
The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, and Concord, and 
Lexington, and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. 
The bones of her sons, fallen in the great struggle for independ- 
ence, now lie mingled with the soil of every state, from New^ Eng- 
land to Georgia; and there they will lie forever. 

And, sir, where American liberty raised its first voice, and where 
its youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives, in the 
strength of its manhood, and full of its original spirit. If discord 
and disunion shall wound it — if party strife and blind ambition 
shall hawk at and tear it; if folly and madness, if uneasiness un- 



66 



der salutary and necessary restraint, shall succeed to separate it 
from that Union by which alone its existence is made sure, it will 
stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy 
was rocked; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it 
may still retain, over the friends who gather round it; and it will 
fall at last, if fall it must, amid the proudest monuments of its 
own glory, and on the very spot of its origin. Webster. 



QUOTATIONS FROM WEBSTER. 

FROM THE EULOGY ON ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 
RoJne M. Evan.s. 



We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as men over- 
whelmed with calamity by the sudden disruption of the ties of un- 
ion or affection; or as in despair for the republic, by the untime- 
ly blighting of its hopes. Death has not surprised us by an un- 
reasonable blow. We have, indeed, seen the tomb close, but we 
have seen it close over mature years, over long-protracted public 
service, over the weakness of age, and over life itself, only when 
the ends of living had been fulfilled. Those suns, as they arose, 
slowly and steadily, amid storms and clouds in their ascendent, 
so they have not rushed from their meridian to sink suddenly in 
the west. Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing benig- 
nity of a summer's day, they have gone down with slow-descend- 
ing, grateful, long-lingering light, and now that they are beyond 
the visible margin of the world, good omens cheer us from "the 
brigfht track of their fierv car." 



67 

FIRST BUNKER HILL ORATION. 
Lucius B. Sivett. 

We wish that this cokimn, rising toward heaven among the point- 
ed spires of so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute to 
produce in all minds, a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. 
We wish, finally, that the last object on the sight of him who leaves 
his native shores, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may 
be some.thing that shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of 
his country. 

Let it rise! Let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the 
earliest light of the morning gild it, and the parting day linger and 
play on its summit. 



SPEECH ON LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS, 1820. 

RalpJi W. Coui^ins. 

Great actions and striking occurences, having excited temporary 
admiration often pass away and are forgotten, because they have 
no lasting results affecting the prosperity of the communities. 
Such is frequently the fortune of the most brilliant military a- 
chievements of the ten thousand battles which have been fought; 
of all the fields fertilized with carnage; of all the banners which 
have been bathed in blood; of the warriors, who hoped that they 
had risen from the field of conquest, to a glory as bright and as 
durable as the stars, yet how few that continue long to interest 
mankind. 



ENDING OFTHE EULOGY OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

John F. Buzzell. 

If we cherish the virtues and the principles of our fathers, Heav- 
en will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty and human 



68 



happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us. Great examples are be- 
fore us, Washington is in the clear upper sky. Those other stars 
have now joined the American constellation; they arch round their 
centre; the Heavens beam with new light. Under this illumina- 
tion let us walk the course of life, and at its end devoutly com- 
mend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, to the Di- 
vine Benignity- 



FROM SPEECH OF MAY 7™, 1834. 
Eloise Gerry. 

On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar 
off, they (the colonies) raised their flag against a power to which, 
for purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the 
height of her glory, is not to be compared; a power which has dot- 
ted the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and mili- 
tary posts; whose morning drumbeat, following the sun, and keep- 
ing company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous 
and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England. 



REPLY TO HAYNE. 
Etta E. Burbank. 



When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the 
sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dis- 
honored fragments of a once glorious union; on states dissevered, 
discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drench- 
ed, it may be, in fraternal blood! 



61) 



A few of the distinguished oiaduates 
of Frveburg Aeademy. 



-4- i i iiH ' rioifc. liic mother of (rovernor Andrew ; 
Caroline E. Farrer, the mother of Artemas Ward; 
Mr8. Valeria G. Stone, who gave the Academy $10,000 ; 
The mother of Judge Wm. G. Barrows; 
Ann Mai'sh, si<tor of lion. Geo. P. Marsh: 
Gov. John W. Dana ; Gen. Samuel Fessenden ; 
Thos. Fessenden, (whose |)oetry John Adams, in his letter 

to Mr. Cook, eommends so highly ) ; 
Rev. Jos. P. Fessenden ; 
Ahiel Chandler, founder of the Chandler Scientilic School 

at Dartmouth College ; 
Rufus I'orter, founder of the ''Seientitic American;" 
Hon. Benj. Orr, M. C. : Hon. Jas. W. Ripley, M. C. ; 
Capt. John Page, who fell at Palo Alto ; 
Rufus Ingalls, (Quarter Master Gen'l, U. S. A. ; 
.las. Ri))ley Osgood ; Kate Putnam Osgood : 
Gov. Albion K. Parris ; Rufus K. Goodenow, M. C. ; 
Wm. Barrows ; Col. Sam'l A. Bradley ; 
Judge Wm. G. Barrows ; Judge Henr}- C. Peabody ; 
Judge Joseph Howard ; Sam'l C. Fessenden, M. C. ; 
Rev. Sam'l Souther— fell at battle of "The Wilderness;" 
Dr. S. C. Gordon ; Dr. S. H. Weeks; 
Hon. Paris Gibson, Senator from Montana; 
Col. A. A. (iil)son ; the late Hon. A. A. Strout ; 
Col. Jacob L. Greene, Pres. Conn. Mut. Life Ins. Co. ; 
The lamented, and brilliant orator, Hon. Daniel Webster 

Peabody, brother of Judge Henry Clay Peabody; 
Stephen Henry Chase. 



70 



Preceptors of Fryeburg Academy. 

Paul Langdon, 1792-'99. 
Daniel Weston, 17.99. 
John P. Thurston, 1800. 
Kev. Wm. Fessenden, 1(S()1 
Daniel Webster, 1802. 

Amos J. Cook, 1802-1833. 
Wm Barrows, Bezaleel Cushman, Enoch Lincoln,* and 
Sam'l Fessenden, were some of Mr. Cook's supplies and 

assistants. 
Amos Brown and Henry Brown Osofood, 1833-4. 
John S. Wall is, 1834-5. 
James H. Merrill, 1835 7. 
Amos Richardson, 1838-44. 

Judah Dana, 1844-5. 
Jos. McGaflfey, 1845-6. 
Wm. R. Porter, 184 (5-7. 
Jos. C. Pickard, 1847-8. 
Thos. Souther, spring and summer of 1849. 
John Haskell, tall ot^'49. 
Alvin Boody, 1850-55. 

Henry Hyde Smith, 1855-58. 

Alfred B. Dascomb, summer of 1858. 
Isaac M. Wellington, 1858-60. 
Sewall C. Cha^rles, fall of 1860. 
John M. Pease, winter of 1861. 
Ebenezer Knowlton, 1861. 
Benj. P. Snow, 1862-64. 



*The late Sally (Evans) Perkins told us that 6ov. Lincoln came into the Academy 
one morning, and said to the students: "I am to take the chair of Mr. Cook for a 
short time, but I do not expect toflil i7." 



71 



Edwin F. Ambrose, 1S64-5. 
Chas. Dana Barrows, 1865-7. 
Usher W. Cutts, 1867-70. 
Calel) A. Page, 1870-73. 
Fred A. Vvilson, 1873-75. 
Augustine Simmons, 1875-6. 

Walter A. Rol)inson, 1876-7. 
H. Dwiglit Wiggin, brief supply, 1876. 
Arlo Bates, 1877. 

John W. Fiske, 1877-8. 

Wendell H. Adams, 1878-9. 
(ieo. H. Ricker, 1879-83. 

Albert F. Richardson, 1883-88. 
John E. Dinsmore, 1888-92. 
John C. Hull, 1892-95. 

Ernest R. WoodI)ury, 1895-1900. 
Chas. G. Willard, 1900. 



ALUMNI HOUSE. 

()PE\I\(i NEW DORMITORY FOR GIRLS AT 
FRYE BU RG AC A DEMY . 

Fiyeburg, December 31. It seems to be of more than 
passing interest t(» record the opening day of ''Alumni 
House," a dormitory for girls attending Fryeburg Academy. 
It is the house remodelled and refurnished that has been 
a landmai-k in the village, for over 70 years, and was known 
as the parsonage, where lived the Rev. Dr. Carlton Ilurd, 
and later. Rev. David B. Sewall. The house is situated on 
Main street, opposite the Academy, the lot being about 20 
rods front and 4G rods deep, well shaded by large elm and 



72 

maple trees. 

The estate is the pr()}>ei-ty of ''Tlie Association of tlie A- 
lumni and Friends of Fryebnrg Academy," a Massachusetts 
corporation, organized to further the interests of the Acad- 
emy. The difl'erent rooms have been furnished chietly by 
family groups of alunmi, with furniture ajid china equal to 
that found in the best private residences. A complete drain- 
age system has l)een provided, Avith a modern l)ath room 
and hot and cold water service. The kitchen was furnished 
l)y Miss Anna Barrows of the "American Kitchen Maga- 
zine." Dr. 8. C. Gordon and Dr. 8. H. Weeks have fur- 
nished the dining room, including china, siher and linen. 
Mr. A. R. Jenness has |)rovided reception room furniture, 
and Miss Minnie Bradley, study room furniture. Mrs. 
Mary E. (Chandler) Charles of Bryantville, Mass., has 
fitted up a room in memory of her ancestor. Paul Langdon, 
the first preceptcM' of the Academy. Other rooms have been 
furnished by tlie family of Hon. Joel E. Morrill of Conway, 
N. H. ; by Calvin Austin, |)resident of the Boston and Ban- 
gor 8. 8. Co ; l)y Granville Austin, of Pierce & Austin, 
Boston, and the family of the late. Hon. D. E. Hastings of 
FrveburiT- The house is heated l)y a furnace and lighted 
by electricity. Monday evening, l)v invitation of the ma- 
tron, Mrs. Josephine A. Durant, a small party of student 
boarders, together with Preceptor C. G. Willard and \\a\- 
ter A Robinson of the Boston Latin school, president of the 
directors of the Alumni association, took sup])er together at 
an informal dedication of the house. A bouquet of red and 
white i)inks sent from Boston, made a bright centre piece. 
The completeness of the appointments of the house was the 
subject of general comment and approval. 

Portland Press, Jan. 1. 190'.'. 



73 



Pequaket, Maine, and Fryeburg. 

A few events and dates in their history, for the benefit of 
Strangers and Summer Tourists. 

PEOUAKET. 



Pequaket was the Indian name of Fryeburg and Conway. Here 
was their home and Stamping Ground. The name signifies "The 
Crooked Place" — referring to the sinuous course of the Saco. 
Here from his Wigwam's door the Indian could step into his ca- 
noe, to float indolently with the current, which received in its mazy 
turnings the waters of many northern ponds, and thus, fishing and 
hunting on a circuit of nearly a hundred miles, would at last, drop 
into Lovewell's Pond, landing but three-fourths of a mile from his 
starting point. 

1642. Darbyfield is now credited with being the first explorer of 

the White Mountains. 
1672. The first mention of the White Mts. in print occurs in John 

Josselyn's "New England's Rarities Discovered," printed in 

1672. 
1689, Sept. 2ist. Major Church fought an important battle with 

the Indians at Falmouth. 
1703. Major March of Casco, at the head of 300 men pursued 

the Indians as far as Pequaket, and here killed six, and made 

prisoners of as manv more. 

1724. The Fight at Norridgewock, where Father Rasle, the mis- 
sionary to the Indians was killed by the English. 

1725, May 8th, O. S., Lovewell's Fight at the N. E. shore of the 
Pond, under Capt. Lovewell and the Indian Sachem, Paugus. 
Both Lovewell and Paugus were slain. There were 34 whites 
and about 80 Indians. Darkness put an end to the fray — 
all but nine of Lovewell's men being either killed or wound- 
ed. This was the most important battle, in its results, that 
ever occurred on the soil of Maine. 



74 

FRYEBURG. 

1762, Township of Fryeburg was granted to Gen. Jos. Frye for 
his services in the French and Indian War. 

i762-"3. Nathaniel Merrill, John Stevens and Limbo.* a Negro, 
spent the winter of 1762 and '3 in Fryeburg, at the Great 
Meadows wintering their stock. 

1763, Fryeburg was settled — the first town in the White Moun- 
tain region. Nath'l Smith first settler to come with family. 

1764, Sept, 27th, Betty Spring, daughter of Jedediah, first white 
child born in Fryeburg — died in Conway, Oct. 15, 1847. 

1765, April 19th, Capt. Wm. Evans, first white male child born 
in Fryeburg — died. Mar. 8th, 1855. 

1766, Sept. and Oct. Rev. Timothy Walker of Concord, N. H., 
made a missionary tour to Fryeburg. 

1768, Rev. Dr. Paul Coffin's "Ride to Piggwacket," on a Missionary 

Tour. 
1775, Aug 2ist, Congregational Church organized. Rev. Wm. 

Fessenden, first minister, ordained Oct. iith. 1775. 

1777, Jan. nth, Fryeburg incorporated. 

1778, Dr. Josiw*- Emery was Fryeburg's first Physician, and her 
first Merchant as. well — coming here from Andover, N. H., 
in 1778. Dr. Joseph- Chase came from Canterbury two years 
later, in 1880. He had been a surgeon in the Revolution, and 
was drowned in the Saco^Oct.^1796. D'". Chase married a 
daughter of Gen. Frye. 



♦Limbo was the slave of Wm. McLellan of Goiliam, and found Ins '•Oamian" in 
Fryeburg. As Fryeburg is less than forty miles from Goihiim, the infeience is 
plain either that slave property did not bear a high value or that facilities fm tr;i(k- 
ing runaways were scanty; for it is stated that his foi iiici- owners never lu-ard df him 
afterwards. His body rests m tlie tiiiper cenu'tci y ;ind his humble head stone says: 
"He was, while living, 'an honest man, the noblest work of God" " Toor Limlio did 
not at first find his new Canaan ••flowing with milk and honey", for we have been 
told tluit at his first home here he often siiared his rations with the pigs. He was 
sold to Samuel Osgood— the consideration being a yoke of oxen. In 1790 Mr. Osgood 
sold him to his son, Lieut. Jas. Osgood, for "five sliillings lawful money"— this sale 
being a mere form to keep the title in the faniily. He ever afterwards found a 
pleasant home under the iKisjtitable roof of "Aunt Nabbie" of the Oxford House, 
where he died Dee. 12, 1828. 

A monument should be erected to Limbo as the first passenger on, and Pigwacket 
the earliest terminus of, the "Underground Railway . 



75 



1785. The Great Freshet on the Saco. 

1790. Baptist Church organized; Zebadee Richardson, pastor. 

1791. Original Webster Academy at Pine Hill, built for a Gram- 
mar School. 

1793, Feb. 9th, Fryeburg Academy incorporated. 

1798. Post Office established — mail once a fortnight, 

1798. "Russell's Echo, or the North Star" was published here, 

Feb., 1798, to Jan., 1799. 
1798. Judah Dana, grandson of Gen. Putnam, Fryeburg's and 

Oxford County's first lawyer, came here from Pomfret, Vt. 

1800. Registry of Deeds established in Fryeburg. 

1 80 1. Oxford House built by Lieut. J as. Osgood. 
1805, Mar, 4th, Oxford County incorporated. 

1805. Our beautiful Main St. widened one and a half rods. 

1806. Second Academy, on present site, dedicated. 
1810. Universalist Church organized. 

181 2. Canal cut, whereby the course of the Saco, in Fryeburg, 

was reduced from 36 to 24 miles. 
1825, May 19th, Lovewell's Fight Centennial. 

There was Unitarian preaching in the village in the thirties 

—and Free Will Baptist services were held in East Fryeburg 

about the same tune. 
1838, Universalist Chapel built. 

1842, Aug. 17th. Semi Centennial Celebration of the Academy. 

1843, Sept. 15th, "Eastman Coffee House," with two stores and 
two stables burnt. The hotel stood on the ground between 
the residence of T. L. Eastman and that of Mrs. Eben Weeks 
— the two stores were N. E. of the hotel. 

1845. The Methodist Church built — now the New Church Hall. 
1850, May 26th, Academy burnt. 

1850. Present Congregational Church* dedicated. 

185 1. West Oxford Agricultural Fair established. 

1853. Present Academy completed — occupied the fall term. 
1863, Aug. 20th, Centennial Celebration of the settlement of the 
town. 



*Tlie first Meeting House (Congregational) was built at Fryeburg Centre— the sec- 
ond of that denomination, in the village, 17%. at the forks of the road near the dwell- 
ing of Albert F. Richardson— looking up the Main street. 



76 



1863. The store of Maj. T. C. Ward, and the shop of Dea. John 
Evans on Portland Street, burned Nov. 17th, '63. The for- 
mer stood between the present P. O. building and the shop 
of W. R. Tarbox; the latter was where Mr. Tarbox's shop 
stands. In the destruction of Dea. Evans's shop passed the 
last relics of the old Webster Academy.* In 1809 it was 
moved from Pine Hill to the site of the stone school house, 
and there used as a village school house till Aug. 1832, when 
it was taken down and put into a dwelling and shoemaker's 
shop on the site of Dea. Evans's shop, by Jasper Pingree, 
father of the late Gov. Pingree of Michigan. 

187 I, June 6th, Railway opened to Fryeburg. 

1875. Henry Bernard Carpenter, the poet preacher and brilliant 
lecturer came to Fryeburg, where he spent about two years. 
While here he wrote that bright and humorous poem, "The 
Oat Meal Crusaders," relating the haps, mishaps and experi- 
ences of a jolly party of pedestrian tourists about the White 
Mountains. He died suddenly at Bar Harbor. July 17, 1890. 

1875, Aug. 2 ist and 22d, Centennial Celebration of the Congre- 
gational Church. 

1877, June 3d, New Jerusalem Church temporarily organized. 

1878, Feb. 27th, Permanently organized. 

1879, New Church built. 

1879, Aug. 31st, New Church dedicated. 

188'', Nov. tZth. Green Mountain water introduced. 

1884. Fryeburg Chautauqua established. 

1885. New Grounds W. Oxford Ag. Fair opened. 

1886, Aug. 19th, L, and stable of Dana Mansion burnt. 

1887, Feb. 14th, Oxford House burnt. 
1887. Fire Corporation organized. 

1887, June 25, to June 29, 1889, ''Oxford County Record"' pub- 
lished here. 
1887, July 25, Horse Railroad opened. 

1892, Aug. 17th, Academy Centennial. 

1893, July 15, ''The Oxford" was opened to the public. 

1896, Dec. 25th, to Jan. 4th, 1898, "Saco Valley News" published 
here. 

*See picture of building in "Fryeburg Webster Memorial." 



77 



iQoi, Apr, i2th, Electric Lights introduced into the stores and 
dwellings. 

1901, July 17th, Streets lighted by electricity. 

1902, Jan. ist. Centennial Celebration of Webster's taking the 
Principalship of Fryeburg Academy, 



Historic houses and places of interest 
in and about Fryeburg. 

THE BATTLE GROUND, at LOVEWELL'S POND. 

This beautiful lake, says Starr King, is "more deeply dyed with 
tradition than any other body of water in New England," where 
Capt. Lovewell and the Indian Chief Paugus were slain, May 8th, 
(O. S.), 1725. 

"Here beside this gem of waters, 
Raged the fiercest, deadliest strife, 
That was ever stirred by warwhoop, 
Or the tones of drum and fife." 
JOCKEY CAP. 
A bald, gray cliff, one mile east of the village, the scene of an 
unsuccessful attempt of a terrible tragedy, where a young man* 
was hurled 100 feet upon the rocks below — without serious 
injury. A remarkable picture of village, valley, river and moun- 
tain greets the eye from its summit. Molly Lockett's Cave, under 
the rocks below. 

THE REGISTRY. 
The Registry, where Webster copied deeds while teaching in 
the Academy. His bold chirography may there be seen in Vol. II. 

SITE OF OLD WEBSTER ACADEHY. 

Site of old Webster Academy at Pine Hill. See picture of build- 



*"A lad named Buck, about fifteen years old, fell off the great rock in Fryeburg, 
Me., known as the "Jockey Cap", last week, a distance of 85 feet, and badly bruised 
and injured him, though strange to say, not a bone was broken, and he is expected 
to recover." 

|_ of C. Portland Transcript, May L'5th, 18,'jO. 



78 



ing in "Fryeburg Webster Memorial,'' page 9. Emerson and 
Prof. A. P. Peabody preached in this building in the summers of 
183 1 and '32. 

THE DANA MANSION. 

The Dana Mansion, the home of Judge and U. S. Senator, Ju- 
dah Dana, and his son John W. Dana, Gov. of Maine and Minis- 
ter to Bolivia. 

THE McHILLAN HOUSE. 

The McMillan House, where "The Village" was written by Gov. 
Enoch Lincoln in 18 15 — the first vol. of poetry written in Maine 
— now the residence of Mr. Post. 

THEQEN.JAS. RIPLEY HOUSE. 

The Gen. Jas. Ripley House — present residence of David R. 
Haley. 

THE OSGOOD HOUSE. 
The Osgood House, opposite '"The Oxford," where lived Jas. 
R, Osgood, the publisher, and his sister, the poetess, Kate Put- 
nam Osgood — the latter was born there; Jas. R. was born in the 
old Oxford House. 

'«CAPT. BROWN'S HALL." 
''Capt. Brown's Hall" — originally built 140 years ago, on the in- 
tervale, west of the bridge/ but drowned out by freshets and floods, 
it was hauled across the Saco on the ice nearly a hundred years 
ago; now standing on Main St., nearly opposite the site of the old 
Webster Academy. Rev. Dr. Paul Coffin, in his ''Ride to Pigg- 
/ y^ ^ wacket" in 1868 on a missionary tour, thus speaks of it: "It had a 
~~ high clean room, with five glass windows, and was nearly half 
wainscoted. It struck me with pleasure, hence I called it "Capt. 
Brown's Hall." 

THE TEMPERANCE HOUSE. 
The Temperance House — on Portland St. — kept by Samuel 
Souther froin 1833 to his death in 1856. 

THE EVANS HOUSE. 

The Evans House, the oldest frame dwelling in Fryeburg, lately 
repaired. The L was a part of the original Oxford House, the 
shed, the first Fryeburg School house. 

THE HOUSE OF AMOS J. COOK. 

The House of Amos J. Cook, who succeeded Webster, and 



79 

^in the Academy a third of a century. 

PINE HILL. 
Pine Hill, at the head of the village. 

STARK'S HILL. 
Stark's Hill, from which Wm. Stark, (a brother of Gen. John 
Stark), showed Gen. Frye the beauties of his new township. 
THE ORIGINAL OXFORD HOUSE. 
The original Oxford House, now the home of Wm. Durgin on 
Portland St. 

THE HARRY Y. B. OSGOOD HOUSE. 
The Harry Osgood House, at the south end of Main St., where 
his grandson, John L., now lives, and embalmed in the beautiful 
description of the village, by Howells, in the first chapter of his 
storv. "A Modern in.'y^ance." 

ARTISTS, riR. and MRS. B. T. NEWMAN'S HOME. 
Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Newman's Home, on Bridge Street. A part 
of this house, before it was repaired and made over, was the old 
printing office, where Elijah Russell printed "Russel's Echo, or 
the North Star" more than a hundred years ago, when it stood in 
the garden of Hon. Geo. B. Barrows. 

THE BRADLEY HOUSE. 
The Bradley House, formerly on the site of C. F. Goodnow's 
home; now on the opposite side of the street, about twenty rods 
N. E. 

BIRTH PLACE OF flAINE'S FAVORITE POETESS. 
Birthplace of Maine's Favorite Poetess, Caroline Dana Howe, 
on Main, opposite Bridge St. 

THE FORMER HOME OF LIEUT. ROBT. E. PEARY. 
The former home of Lieut. Robt. E. F'eary, the explorer of the 
North Pole; the present dwelling of F. L. Mark on Elm St. 
THE VERB ROYCE-DR. GRISWOLD HOUSE. 
The Vere Royce-Dr. Griswold House, on Bridge St. 

CAPT. HENRY Y. BROWN'S HOUSE. 
Capt. Henry Y. Brown's House, (the grantee of Brownfield), 
after he left the intervale — formerly on the site of John Weston's 
home — now standing on the east side of Smith St., near its junc- 
tion with Warren St. 

THE REV. DR. CARLTON HURD HOUSE. 
The Rev. Dr. Carlton Hurd House, built by him 70 years ago 



80 



— now the Alumni House, bought recently for a Girls' Dormitory 
by the Boston Alumni Association.* 

THE BOAT RIDE ROUND THE RIVER. 

The Boat Ride round the River — a charming days outing- 
starting at the village, and gliding with the Saco's current, one 
sails about 25 miles, returning to within three-fourths of a mile 
from the starting point! 

Beautiful Drives About Fryeburg. 

POTTER'S FARM. 

Potter's Farm, overlooking Walker's Pond, (sparkling like a 
diamond set in ebony), Chocorua, and the whcje \^'hite Mt. Range. 
CARTER'S HILL. 
Carter's Hill, in East Fryeburg, commanding a striking view of 
Kezar Pond, the Saco, and the whole town. 
SWAN'S FALLS. 
Swan's Falls, showing the rapids made by the cutting of the Ca- 
nal in 1812. 

THE CHAUTAUQUA GROUNDS. 
The Chautauqua Grounds, where the annual Assembly and 
School of Methods are held. 

FRYEBURG CENTRE. 
Fryeburg Centre, where was born "The Vermont Bard," Chas. 
Gam age Eastman. 

PLEASANT MOUNTAIN. 
Pleasant Mountain, looming like a huge earth work from abroad 
plain — an extended view from its summit, 2000 feet high, is given 
on account of its isolated position. 

GREEN HILL SQUARE. 
Green Hill Square, taking in the base of Kearsarge, So. Chat- 
ham and "The Whale's Back." 

HIGHLAND PARK. 
Highland Park, the summer home of the wife of the late Gen. 
Geo. F. Shepley. 

HURRICANE MOUNTAIN ROAD. 
Hurricane Mountain Road, lately opened over Green Moun- 

*See page 71. 



81 



tain to Kearsarge Village and North Conway — rising nearly 2000 
feet, showing a wide and extended panorama, N. Conway, Echo 
Lake, Cathedral and the Ledges. Davis Hill, in Conway. Ten 
Mile Square, Fryeburg. Sixteen Mile Square, N. Fryeburg. Ten 
Mile Square, Conway. Conway Corner. White Mountain Miner- 
al Spring. Fessenden Hill, 3-4 mile No. of Chautauqua Grounds, 
the home of Fryeburg's first minister, Rev. Wm. Fessenden. 
FRYE'S HILL. 
Frye's Hill, the home of Gen. Frye, one mile north of Chautau- 
qua. 

Brownfield, via the ''Notch" Road, Cold River, Bridgton, Lov- 
ell, Menotomy, Harbor Square, Bartlett, Jackson, Mt. Tom, Jock- 
ey Cap, and "The Battle Ground." 

LOVEWELL'S POND. 
Lovewell's Pond, mean width, 3-4 mile; two miles and 50 rods 
in length. 

JOCKEY CAP and PINE HILL. 
Jockey Cap and Pine Hill, 200 feet high. 

STARK'S HILL. 
Stark's Hill, 630 feet high. 

FRYEBURG. 
Fryeburg, 500 feet above sea level. 



82' 



The Association of tlie Alumni and Friends of Fryeburg Academy. 

[Incorporated, June 28, 1000, under Massacliusetts laws.] 
DIRECTORS, 
'l^rm expires in I906.: Walter A. Robinson. A- M., Master, Bo.ston 
, Latin School. Mrs. Leah Barker Chase. Brookline. John Stuart 
Barrows, Marine Editor, "Boston Journal." 
Term expires in 1 905. William E. Decrow, A. M., Gen'l Manager 
Gamewell Fire Alarm Co. Mrs. C. Frances Fames, Woburn. 
F-rancisH. Wyman, with Hovey & Co., Boston. 
Term expires in 1 904. Calvin Austin, Prest. and Gen'l Mgr. Boston 
& Bangor S. S. Co. Mrs. Mary E. Charles, Bryantville. Edw. E. 
■ Hastings, Esq., Fryeburg, Me. ' 

Term expires in l9o3. Granville C. Tyler, Leather Merchant, 
Boston. Mrs. Ruth Morrill Starrett, New York City. Rev. Fred- 
rick A. Wilson, A. M., Andover. 
T^rm expires in I902. *Phillip E. Stanley, A. B., "Boston Herald." 
Miss Mary E. Buzzell, Asst. High School, Stoneham. Wallace ¥,. 
Mason, A. M., Master Field High School, Leomister. 
Annual membership fee, 5o cents. Life membership fee ,$10.00. 

Membership, Dec. 2, 1901, — Life, 20; annual, 76. 
President, Walter A. Robinson, 34 Jason St., Arlington. 

Secretary, Miss Anna Barrows, Editor, 2H Oliver St., Boston. 
Treasurer, Hon. William W. Towle, 10 Tremont St., Boston. 

Organized to Help Fryeburji Academy. 

DOINB. 

Purchased, November 2'A, 1901, 

The Hurd-Sewall Parsonage for Dormitory lor Girls. 
Buildings, when repaired, will be worth, . $2, OOO.OO 
The furnishings are worth, . ... 600.00 

The land is worth 1, 000. 0(> 

Hav§ added Books of Reference, Maps, Apparatus and 

Pictures, 
Have provided Instruction in Domestic Science for the 
girls who live at the dormitory. 

DOING 

(ietting money for a Carnegie Pul)lic Library and Mtni- 
orial Hall. 

GOIMG TO DO 

Secure a Dormitory for Boys. 

Establish a Manual Training Department. 

I'rovide tTymnasiums. 

Add to the .\cadeniy Buildings. 

Beautify the Grounds and lay out .\thletic Fields. 

Add to the Endowment P'und. 

WE DESIRE YOUR HELP. 

*Deceased. 



Webster's Fryeburg Store Account, from 
Ledger of John and Rob't Bradley. 



DANIEL WEBSTER, Dr. 

1802 Dolls. 

January 9 To soap 6d (12) Ribbon 8d Comb 6d (30) 
Quills Is 6d 
Feb. 2 Pencil 7d (6) Ring 5s (10) Silk 5d 

12 Book 4s 6d {I'S) Segars 9d (20) Raisins 9d 
23 Sundries 3s 3d (March 1) Segars 9d 
March 4 Raisins &c (10) Wafers 4 K. (16) Paper 2s 4d 

19 Raisins 5d (April 7) 1 sq. Glass 6d Watch Key Is 
April 10 Hose 7s 6d (17) 3,^8 yds. velvet, 8s 6d per yd. 
17 '.J yard B. hollon Is 2d 2 skeins silk Is 2d 
17 Buttons Is (29) 20 cents lent Is 2d 
29 1 best whip 9s May 18th 1 Quire paper Is 6d 
Ma\- 18 1 bunch quills Is 4d ^j bushel corn Is 9d 
June 1 1 Vjox wafers 5d June 5 one powder flask Is 9d 

5 ,14 lb. powder Is 2d June 7 one quire paper Is 6d 
8 one bunch segars 9d, June 9th cash lent 30s 
12 pair silk hose 14s 6d (17) 1 paper ink powder 9d 2 
July 1 '•_' lb raisins 5d,(3) one skein silk 5d 
5 To cash 18s (6th) >4 m Quills Is 6d 
19 1 penknife 4s }.i quire letter paper lOd 
29 1 yd. ribband 6d (31st) 1 pair gloves 4s 
Aug. 2 two dozen quilis Is 4d 2 yds. cassiniere 14s 6d 

per yd. silk Is 2d, twist Is 2d 5 26 

'.1 yd. linen Is 2d ferret 3d buttons 7d 

4 small buttons 4d 38 

Sep. 3 one trunk 13s 2 17 






53 


1 


00 


1 


00 





67 





45 





32 


5 


68 




38 




37 


1 


75 




52 




36 




44 


5 


13 


2 


54 




14 


3 


25 




80 




75 



33 89 



1802 CONTRA 

June By Cash 24s Sept. 3d Cash 120s 24 00 

1804 April 29th By Cash of Samuel A. Bradley 9 64 




Fife Insuiance 



Cash Fund, January I, 1902, $666^679.04 
Surplus over Re-Insurance. $422,451.85 

Losses Paid the past year, $41,836.23 
Dividends Paid the past year, $62,168.79 

Gain in Surplus the past year, $28,308.27 

Gain In Cash Fund the past year, $21,831.51 

AND KVERY LOSS PAID IN FULL. 

Amount at Risk, $33,152,599. Total Liabilities, $244,227.19. 

Divideiuls P;iid on every Expiring Policy; 60 per cent, on 5 years, 40 per cent, on 
3 years, and '20per cent, on all others. 

WILLIAM H. FAY, Sec'y. CHAS. A. HOWLAND, Pres't and Treas. 

Dividends paid A. R. Jenness, $3G4.97; F. L. Mark, $81.25; W. H. Tarbox, $154.07. 
$4,659.51 Total dividends i)aid in this Co. by 

A. F. LEWIS, Agent, Fryebnrg, Maine. 



INSURE AGAINST FIRE 

irith 1^ 

TRADEESANDMEGHANICSINS.CO.. 

of Lowell, Mass. 

C. C. Hutchinson, Pres., Edw. M. Tucke, Sec. & Treas. 

This Co. pays dividends of 20, 40 and 60 per cent, 
on J, 3 and 5 year policies. 

Dividends paid J. & E. P. Weston, $328.92; C. T. Ladd. $203.11; 

Hon. L. R. Giles, |235.54; Fryeburg Academy, |204.68; 

C. H. Tibbetts, $203.11; Fryeburg Village Corporation 

$71.55;, Estate Eben Weeks, $225.99; A. & 

P. B. Young, $83.05. 

$3717.29 dividends paid in this Co. by 

A. F. LEWIS, Agent, Fryeburg, Maine. 



' Fryeburg Academy 

offers instruction in the following subjects: 

Languages — English, French, German, Latin, Greek. 

Mathematics — Arithmetic, Algebra, Plane and vSolid Geometry. 

History — Grecian, Roman, English, American and General. 

Sciences — Physical Geography, Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Bot- 
any, Geology and Physiology. 

Commercial — Bookkeeping, Civics, Political Economy. 

Pedagogy — Psychology, Theory and Practice of Teaching, School 
Management, School Government, School Organization, His- 
tory of Education, etc. 

There are three courses of study — College Preparatory, English 
Scientific and Teachers Training. 

The College Preparatory Course is designed to meet the require- 
ments for admission to the New England Colleges. 

The English Scientific Course is designed to give a general edu- 
cation to those who do not intend to pursue their studies in higher 
schools. It is also a sufficient preparatory course for several Scientif- 
ic schools of New England. 

The Teachers Training Course is designed to meet the needs of 
those who expect to teach in our common schools. 

Alumni House. — This is a building recently added to the institu- 
tion by the alumni to be used as a dwelling house for girls. It is 
provided with electric lights, bathroom and all the modern conven- 
iences. A matron has charge of the house as well as the girls who 
live in it. 

r Tuition, fl. per term. 

Expenses } Books sold at cost. 

( Board and lodging in Alumni House, 

$',-i. per week. 
(From Monday till Friday, 112.50.) 

Boys ina}' hire rooms within two minutes walk of Alumni House 
for fifty cents per week and l)oard at Alumni House for |;2.50 per 
week.(|2. from Monday till Friday). 

For catalogue or further particulars address 

Charles Glidden Willard, 

Fryeburg, Maine. 



C. E. Harris, 

DENTIST 

Modern Dentistry. 

oxford st. 

Fryebtjrg, Me. 



If you want a painting of your old 

rRYEBURQ MOMD 

write to~~~~"""^^^^^^^HP^ 

B. T. Now naan, 

Tryebur^ Scenery 

M. Q. rreeman Sc Go., 

Bool<^ C^T^n^^^ and Job Pi^rrit^i^s? 



Fryeburg, Maine. 

A large stock of MOUNT BOARDS constantly on hand. 



GO TO 



J. T. WhitmoPc's 



Ffveburg Shoe aod Novelty Store. 



Queen Quality boots 
for women. 

Men, women, misses, 
and childrens clothing, 
ladies and childrens furs, 
ladies and gents fur- 
nishings. 

Musical Instruments, 
Watches, Clocks and 
Jewellery, Druggists 
Sundries, Patent Medi- 
cines, and a full line of 
bric-a-brac. 

At my branch store 
you will find dishes of 
all kinds. Blankets, 
Puffs, Window Shades, 
Curtains, Curtain Poles, 
Rugs, Stands, Pictures 
and Toys. 




A full line of lamps. Electric Lamps and Morris 
Chairs. 



BDWARD B. HASTINGS, 

Qoutvselor and Attorney at Law. 

<:■}•.■■:■!■ i r , ; • ; .. ■ . . -, ■ 

FryebiLir^, Oxford County, Maine. 



^^^""^ 




Call at 

and see the 

LATE5T/^ELT1ES 

IN FIAIE^, 

^EWELRY^ 



i^^^-^.i 




^ixd ntHnerfliiis other beautiful and attractive 
^oods. Oijr^tocli has been chosen with great 

tes- 
f 



I^^^N f C^^^,^^' oare'&nd cannot!'|faijlto please people of correct tastes 
'4c3l' ^^^'^tt:i*61egant, eliaste, ref^i>dJ We al^o carry a full stock o 
Bicycles and Sundries in t^ieir seaso^/ J 

y^i li. ^iirnham, 

%%GpiTi a k e r ./J evv e I e r , O pt i c i a n , 

J.>'^ and Bio/^ciy^Mlachinisl. 

PR^gBURG, // / - .r,,.. Mj^IMB. 




If- I 



,(• 



Fryeburg, Maine. 

At Uberty House, E. Browufielcl, every Thursday. 



A good assortment of all kinds of meat, provisions, 
fruit, vegetables, fresh fish, canned goods, home made 
bread, etc., at the Market, 

Fryebur^, Maine. 

Z. O. Wentworth, 

Proprietor. 

58t,h Annual Statement of 
THE MOUYOKB 

MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO., 

of Salem, Mass. 

1N( Oltl'OUATEl) IS43. 

C. H. Price, rresident. J. T. Mahonev, Vice President. 

W. L. Hakki.s, Treasurer. A. N. Webb, Assistant Treasurer. 

1.. (). Johnson. Secretary. C. P. Faunoe, General Agent. 

Ji^lNUARY 1. 1902. 

Amount at Risk - = $38,759,133.00 

Cash Assets » = = 917,384.11 

Reinsurance Reserve = = 281,918.21 

Other Liabilities = = 7,869.69 

Cash Surplus ^ Inchuliiig Guarantee Capital. ) 627,596.21 

This Company Pays the Following Dividends: 

On Policies for 1 year. 20 iiei- cent. 3 years. 40 per cent. 5 years. GO per cent. 
Dividends paid, D. VV. True, $Qi.2rr, Capt. E. K. Wingate. ,f 123.08; Norman Charles. 
$81.80; J. & Wni. Locke, .^115.91; L. J. Olney, .•8!80 75. 
Total Dividends paid liy tliis Co. in Fryeburg Agency, f l,470..f)4; 

A. F, LEWIS, Agent. 



T. W. GMARUDS, 

Dealer in ^""■■■»' 

Confectionery, Cigars and Tobacco. 

Junction Elm and Smith Streets. 
rRYEBURG, - - MAIINE. 







1 

I- 




An ideal summer home^ replete with every modern 
convenience. One hundred rooms arranged singly 
and en suite. Broad piazzas and shady lawns. Bill- 
iard and Pool room. Telegraph and Telephone offices 
in the house. Perfect sanitation and water supply. 
Fine Cuisine, the table being supplied with fruit and 
vegetables from the hotel garden. 

The Oxford is open throughout the year, fifty 
steam heated rooms assuring perfect comfort to winter 
guests. 

FRANK PLUMMER, Proprietor. 

Fryeburg, Maine. 
Send for illustrated circular. 




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